


Untouchable

by aomines



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Age Difference, First Times, Kissing, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:05:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aomines/pseuds/aomines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko’s older stepbrother Kagami walks into his life right when he needs it the most, when basketball is no longer his passion but a lifeless chore. Within months Aomine ends up falling for his style of basketball. Soon after he also starts to fall for him. </p><p>He swears the last part wasn’t supposed to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey Tetsu, do you ever think you could fall for someone that’s not your usual type?” Aomine called from the floor. 
> 
> He yawned, his voice coming out groggy. “If you’re referring to the crush you have on Kagami-kun, then yes. Now go to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > prompt from [firebyfire](http://firebyfire.tumblr.com/): What if Kagami is the older brother of one of Aomine’s friends? Maybe Kuroko’s? Aomine tries every excuse to go to Kuroko’s house now and when one day he sees Kagami playing basketball, he thinks he’s never going to love anyone as much as he loves Taiga because have you seen that boy playing?
> 
> i saw this and i was like... i have to do this. i also have a thing for older kagami and younger aomine, oops.

“Sticking that popsicle down the back of my shirt wasn’t necessary,” he mumbled, unbuttoning the rest of it and shrugging it off. “I would’ve gotten the point without sticky coldness sliding down my back on the way here just fine.” 

“I wanted to make sure,” Kuroko sat down on the edge of his bed. “You’re not necessarily the best when it comes to listening Aomine-kun.”

His blue eyes narrowed while tugging a back up t-shirt for practice out of his bag. He tossed the soiled shirt onto the floor much to Kuroko’s dismay before taking a seat next to him the bed. It wasn’t like he had a choice with the lack of furniture. “So you’re moving into your stepdad’s place this weekend right? Is the house nice?” 

“It’s a lot bigger than this if that’s what you mean.” 

He hummed in understanding. “Do you at least like him?” 

“My stepfather? Yes, there seems to be nothing wrong with him. And he makes my mother happy.” Kuroko replied with a smile. “His son is also likeable. He kind of reminds me of you actually.” 

“Is he good looking and likes big boobs?” 

The paler boy gave him a blank look. “I meant Kagami-kun is a complete basketball idiot like you are. However, I haven’t see him play so I don’t really know the length of his skills.” 

The news is enough to put a smile on Aomine’s face. He looks like someone just offered him a shopping spree to a shoe store and an unlimited subscription to Mai-chan photobooks. “How old is he?” 

“If I remember correctly he’s seventeen.” 

“Three years older than us? Huh, he might just be interesting,” he finished with a wider smile. “You also said he lived in the states for a while right? His level of basketball has to be amazing.” 

Kuroko shrugged, another small smile crossing his features but this time due to Aomine’s excitement. It’s an expression he hasn’t seen for a while with his sudden disinterest in basketball and skipping practices. “I’m sure Kagami-kun will take an interest in you too. Hopefully you can meet him soon.” 

“Sooner is better than never. I didn’t get a speech and a popsicle down my back to not meet someone as amazing as myself or so you put it.” 

“You’re right. It should’ve been two popsicles.” 

Aomine briefly laughed, slinging an arm around the smaller boy’s shoulder. He understood Kuroko’s way of joking that was laced with threat. It gave a usual sense of friendship that’s been lacking for the last couple of weeks. “There’s no point in wasting money like that Tetsu. Unless you wanna donate to my fund.” 

“Aomine-kun, how many times do I have to tell you that I won’t aid in you buying gravure magazines.” 

He leaned into him further, doing that thing where he forgets what personal space really is. “It was worth a shot.”

  


* * *

  


It’s been two weeks since that day over at Kuroko’s old house and things have somewhat changed. Aomine’s been showing up for practice every day as promised (minus that one day he had to retake a test). Kuroko’s also added to his practice time on the weekends since the both of them now live closer to each other and a basketball court. 

The two of them take the long way home everyday just to pass it, hopeful that they might able to witness a game worth watching. Sadly, today was one of those days when Aomine had the goal of going straight to Kuroko’s to study. It wasn’t exactly his personal goal, more like a command from Akashi and Momoi from the basketball coach since his grades were slipping again. 

His recent boredom of basketball put him into an overall slump in all aspects in life so he was playing catch up. His grades were lower than usual (which he didn’t know was possible), his shoes and gravure magazines were out of order in his closet, his sleeping pattern was gradually getting normal again, and his overall relationship with the people closest to him were working out for the most part. 

Except now Aomine’s regretting all of that because holy shit this streetball game is actually pretty insane. He can’t even take his eyes off of it, much to Kuroko’s exasperation who’s saying something to him that he obviously didn’t hear. 

All he sees is someone with red hair, racing up and down the court with teammates in toe. There’s a vibe that screams he’s the one as Aomine’s fingers grip the steel gate he peers through. His previous smirk turns into an insatiable grin and his face is practically molding into the cool metal to get closer to the action. 

“Fuck, Tetsu do you see this guy?” He nearly forgot he was there with him till the phantom passer stepped closer to him. 

His passive stare followed the game, his interest just as strong as Aomine’s but not visible. “Yes, I do. I also happen to know him.” 

His blue eyes tore away from the match to meet paler ones. “The redhead? Why haven’t you introduced me? Shit Tetsu, he’s amazing.” 

“Please Aomine-kun, language,” he began, “You obviously didn’t hear me once you started watching the game. That redhead is my new step brother, Kagami-kun.” 

He didn’t think it was possible to get this excited over a basketball opponent anymore. He only felt this way nowadays about new shoes and gravure magazines, but the thrill working through his bloodstream was something he’s missed deeply. 

Aomine briefly laughed, turning to Kuroko to show his heart capturing grin. “Thanks Tetsu.” 

He looked at him quizzically after turning away from the game. “For what?” 

“For finding me someone just as amazing as myself.” He said it with relief, like he’d been dying to hear those words come out of his own mouth for so long. It was no longer the impossible feat that he’d have to wait for. 

Kuroko smiled at him before his eyes landed back on Kagami. Maybe the redhead was just what he needed.

  


* * *

  


He couldn’t get him out of his head. 

Kuroko was doing his best to teach Aomine what he could before the test tomorrow but his mind was on a completely different planet known as Kagami Taiga. Just watching him for those two minutes (before Kuroko dragged him away) made it obvious he was everything he was looking for. The raw strength in his dunk, how quickly he crossed the court, and the quick team play between his teammates were all he needed to see. 

He also saw the look on their opponents face, that defeated and on the verge of giving up look that he’s seen so many times within his past games. That alone made him itch to play. He wanted to feel that for once. The feeling of whether he’d win or lose was something foreign to him and left a rush of excitement in the pit of his stomach. 

Aomine almost considered lying to Kuroko that he had to be home early only so he could stop by the court to challenge him to a one on one. Unluckily for him, his best friend knew him almost as well as his mother and that excuse wouldn’t work for a second. Even now Kuroko was giving him that apathetic look mixed with disappointment and impatience. 

“You’re not leaving to go play. Akashi-kun and Momoi-san trusted me to help you study for this test.” 

He sucked his teeth before flopping down on his side, propping his head on his right hand. “This is killing me Tetsu. Why didn’t you introduce me to him sooner?” 

“Kagami-kun has been settling into his new school and this home for the time being. Not to mention we’ve been really busy with practices and our upcoming games.” Kuroko noted, closing the textbook in his hands. 

“What school does he go to?” 

“I believe it’s Senshinkan High.” 

“Oh shit, that school is one of the Three Kings of Tokyo. Did their Interhigh start already?” He was sitting up crossed legged now, his eyes bright with interest as he got in Kuroko’s personal space for more information. 

“Language Aomine-kun,” he started, “And I don’t know. Me and Kagami-kun are still getting use to the stepbrother process. Thanks to my lack of presence we don’t talk as much as we should at the moment.” 

Aomine slumped against him, his head lying on his shoulder in disdain. “You’re making this harder on me Tetsu.” 

He couldn’t help but smile at his childish attitude, appreciating this Aomine and not the one he’s been dealing with for the past couple of weeks. “You’re not making this study session any easier on me. Need I remind you that you could’ve been stuck with Midorima-kun for this.” 

“Don’t remind me.” He said through a yawn. “How about you feed me instead?” 

Kuroko sighed. “I offered you something to eat while we were down stairs.” 

He shrugged before standing on his feet. “I wasn’t hungry then. Plus how do you expect me to study when I’m hungry?” 

“Sorry to break this to you Aomine-kun but hungry or not, your studying skills are nonexistent.” He claimed, walking past him out the door. 

“Hey! I’m not that hopeless, it’s just that basketball and boobs are more important than studying.” 

“If you don’t study you won’t be allowed to play basketball and Momoi-san would take away your gravure magazines.” He deadpanned as Aomine trailed behind him into the kitchen. 

“I wish you’d stop being right all the time.” He mumbled with a pout. 

“It’s easy to be right when I’m with you,” he retorted, “Now, what would you like to eat?” 

His eyes narrowed in a harmless glare. “Ignoring the first comment, what do you have?” 

“We have—” Kuroko paused, listening to the sound of the front door opening and closing. “That sounds like Kagami-kun.” 

Aomine tensed, the feeling of the world falling from beneath his feet. The person that’s been on his mind for the last half hour was about to come face to face with him and he wasn’t even sure how to react. 

He couldn’t flatout challenge him to a one on one. He also didn’t want to seem like the over exuberant basketball idiot he was by asking a million questions about how he learned to play, what’s it like with basketball in the states, and what’s his average point score. 

He’d didn’t have much time to think before Kagami strolled through the entryway, his Senshinkan basketball bag on his right shoulder and his left hand pushing back the sweaty strands stuck to his forehead. His red eyes didn’t land on the two in the kitchen until he was a couple feet away. 

Aomine and Kagami locked eyes first, the redhead not hiding the fact he was sizing him up. The younger boy did the same, taking note of how much taller than himself he was and the build of his body with anticipation bubbling in the pit of his stomach once more. 

Kuroko watched the two of them in silence before stepping forward, clearing his throat. “Kagami-kun, this is my friend from the basketball team, Aomine-kun.” 

He slightly jumped, tearing his eyes away from Aomine to finally notice his stepbrother was in the room. “Nice to meet you.” He said, his eyes back on Aomine. 

Aomine thickly swallowed, nodding in affirmation. “Uh, nice to meet you too.” 

His gaze drifted back to his younger brother. “What are you doing in the kitchen?” 

“Aomine-kun got hungry while we were studying.” Kuroko said, ignoring the annoyed look Aomine was him. 

“I was gonna make dinner after I took a shower if you guys wanna wait,” Kagami replied, shifting the bag on his shoulder, “Our parents are going to a last minute gala for something.” 

Kuroko nodded in remembrance. “She did mention that this morning. What were you going to make?” 

“I was thinking curry, if that’s okay with the both of you?” 

The two boys shared a collective nod. “We can make more progress studying while we wait. Thank you Kagami-kun.” Kuroko finished with a slight bow of his head and a smile. 

Kagami instantly grew sheepish at his politeness. “It’s no problem. I’ll call you guys when it’s ready.” 

Aomine mumbled a thanks of his own before trailing behind Kuroko. It didn’t help that he was itching to turn around and pester Kagami with questions. It also didn’t help that he could feel the redhead’s eyes on him as he walked away. 

At this point, studying seemed nearly impossible.

  


* * *

  


Aomine managed to actually eat dinner without interrogating Kagami about his basketball accomplishments. 

It was probably because the food was delicious enough to shut him up. Amazingly, Kagami’s cooking was the best thing he’s had in awhile. His mom was on a business trip so that meant Maji Burger since he wasn’t about to waste time in the kitchen. Of course he didn’t tell him that, but he did compliment his cooking and thanked him again for the food. 

The biggest surprise was when Kagami stopped him outside as he started walking home. Before he even realized what was happening, they challenged each other to a one on one for that upcoming Sunday since they both had a game the day before. 

It was finally Sunday and Aomine wasn’t sure how to feel. 

He was already at the basketball court where Kagami and him promised to meet. Showing up early was a way for him to blow off his own personal steam from yesterday due to his match against Kamizaki not going the way he wanted plain and simple. He was pretty sure Inoue wouldn’t let him down in the match, since that’s what he expected out of his former rival. 

Except it was a complete heart crushing letdown that he gave up just like rest of the Kamizaki team when the point difference was evident of their impossible comeback. It was unbelievably frustrating. First his own Teikō teammates giving up during practice and now someone who he thought could let him give it his all. 

It kept him up all night. Along with what he said to Kuroko. He was really starting to think that the only person that could beat him is him. It didn’t feel believable that he could find someone that’d push him to his limit, to give him a game that was actually so close that’d leave him running on pure adrenaline and the fight to win with a smile on his face. 

His hope was wearing thin enough that he considered the day he saw Kagami playing might have been a fluke and not the intense strength that his future rival carried. There was the gut wrenching feeling of the possibility that someone who seemed like what he was looking for might not be the one. 

He almost didn’t show up on that fear alone. His luck with finding a worthy opponent was nonexistent, so why would it change now? Aomine glared at the asphalt, his grip tightening on his water bottle. It barely registered to him that Kagami was standing on the court now, less than a couple of feet away from him with a confused look on his face. 

“Why are you here so early?” Kagami asked, dropping his bag next to Aomine’s before reaching for the ball next to his thigh. 

Aomine looked up at him, again taking in the stature and the possible raw strength someone of his height and build could possibly contain. “What do you do when your opponent gives up during a match because you’re stronger than them?” 

He froze at first, not expecting a question. “I usually just keep giving it my all.” 

His eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Why would you do something like that when they’ve obviously given up? There’s no point in the game anymore.” 

“Just because they’ve given up and you’re stronger than them doesn’t mean you should you give up too. When you play any sport, there’s always a chance you could lose against a stronger opponent. If they can’t handle that, then maybe they shouldn’t be playing in the first place.” His voice sounded stern and his words were just as straight forward like a couple days before. 

He opened his mouth to argue, but ended up closing it instead. “I guess that makes sense, but what about me? If I keep getting stronger, basketball won’t be fun anymore. I won’t have an opponent strong enough to keep up with me.” 

Kagami scoffed, beginning to bounce the ball in his right hand. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. You haven’t even beat me yet.” He thrust the ball into Aomine’s chest with an antagonizing grin. “If you think you’re gonna wipe the floor with me like you do to those junior high kids then you’re dead wrong.” 

He sucked in a breath, seeing the fire in his eyes that the rest of his former opponents lacked. The redhead was right, he was getting ahead of himself. He was still young and all he’s dealt with is junior high kids. He’d have many more games with people older, stronger, and with different types of basketball. All he had to do was wait. 

But what was in front of him right now didn’t require waiting and that’s all that mattered. 

Aomine smiled, producing the same heat in his eyes as he got lower into a dribbling stance. “Then bring it on.” He called out, running past the redhead towards the hoop not too far away. 

Kagami was taken back by his speed but quickly caught up. He made it in enough time to block the shot from the hoop, sending the ball out of court range. The two of them then shared a look, the confirmation that this game was going to be nothing but difficult. 

Aomine gave him another smile before taking off for the ball with Kagami right on his heels.

  


* * *

  


Four months later after numerous one on ones (most of which that ended up in ties and the occasional victory for either boy), lunches at Maji Burger, dinners at the Kagami-Kuroko household, watching basketball games together, video games, and among other things did Aomine realize he had a crush on Kagami. 

At first he didn’t know what that strange feeling was in the pit of his stomach every time he saw him. He blamed it on the Maji Burger for weeks and even that one lunch Satsuki made him that he ate out of desperation. 

It dawned on him little by little. Every smile Kagami directed at him felt like hummingbirds having a race in his intestines. Every laugh of his left an admiring smile on his lips. He remembered little things about him like his Maji Burger order, his favorite basketball shoe, and even how he could barely get any sleep before a basketball match. He thought those things were all something he could easily get over, but he knew he was in deep once his physical attraction to him grew. 

Sure he looked at Kagami, but he started _looking_ at Kagami. 

He admired the contrast of his red-black hair against his tan skin, the length of his eyelashes accentuated by the crimson color of his eyes, the fullness and curvature of his lips, and oh man his upper body. The broadness of his shoulders combined with the amount of muscle in his arms and those abs were something he couldn’t help but stare at when the redhead wore tank tops and sleeveless shirts. 

Aomine was honestly planning on keeping this information to himself. But it was two in the morning after he finished playing video games in Kagami’s room and now he was back in Kuroko’s room, lying on the futon next to his bed wide awake. He knew Kuroko was awake too, having shifted on his side for the third time. 

“Hey Tetsu, do you ever think you could fall for someone that’s not your usual type?” Aomine called from the floor. 

He yawned, his voice coming out groggy. “If you’re referring to the crush you have on Kagami-kun, then yes. Now go to sleep.” 

He sat up, glaring at him in the dark. “How’d you know?” 

“You’re easy for me to read Aomine-kun. You can lie and say you’re staring off into space, but your eyes are always on Kagami-kun.” 

“Oh,” he laid back down, “then what should I do about it?” 

Kuroko sighed this time, turning to face him. “That’s up to you and only you Aomine-kun. If you need help I’ll be here for you but you can’t expect me to make your decisions.” 

“I guess you’re right.” He paused, exhaling deeply through his nose. “You don’t think it’s weird?”

“No Aomine-kun. You’re the same basketball idiot I met last year with too many gravure magazines for your age.” 

Aomine suddenly gasped. “What about Mai-chan? I’m practically cheating on her.” 

Kuroko gave him his signature indifferent stare, suddenly wishing he could turn the lights on just so Aomine could see it. “Goodnight Aomine-kun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys liked this! i know i sure as hell didn't since i haven't written in forever, but what can you do.
> 
> as far as how long this fic is gonna be, i don't have a clue. when i first saw this prompt, the first thing i thought about is the sex they're gonna have (as usual) and not really the plot part. but! i've been thinking for months so i think i have an idea of how this is gonna be. ten chapters maybe? more or less. 
> 
> the chapters are probably gonna alternate between aomine and kagami's pov, so next will be kagami's. 
> 
> uh, any other questions you might have about the story or whatever you can ask at my [personal](http://ahonime.tumblr.com/) blog or my [writing](http://-aomines.tumblr.com/) blog, it's up to you! 
> 
> happy aokaga day! ♥
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated. ✌️


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Either way, Kagami Taiga had a crush on a beautiful five foot eleven, fourteen-year-old boy with the basketballs skills of a god and he hated it.

When he originally came back to Japan, he expected the basketball to be nothing but easy. Along with being the best player on his school team. So far, he’s been nothing but wrong. 

Of course, he heard the rumors of the strength Senshinkan possessed, one of the Three Kings of Tokyo so to speak. He had to see it for himself before they proved worthy of that name. And boy did they fucking prove it. His team was also the biggest mixture of personalities and skills that he’s come across in a long time. 

There was the Senshinkan captain Kiyoshi, clueless in some aspects but very respectable in other areas. Next, there was the vice-captain and shooting guard Mibuchi, irritatingly graceful on the court and his multiple shooting forms made him a blessing. There was also Hanamiya, his personality was probably the most disgusting thing he’s ever encountered but his steals were impeccable. 

Then, of course, there was Nebuya, who he tolerated the most since they sometimes played the same position and liked to stuff their faces together after games while their teammates watched in disgust. And the last first string player was Hayama. The kid could be pretty annoying at times but his dribbling was something he’s never even seen before in the states. 

All in all, his team was a melting pot of talent and it showed within their first couple of practice matches and official games. He honestly couldn’t have asked for a better team upon his return back to Japan. Not only did he have a solid team, but he was pretty sure these interactions would lead to possible friendships. At least that’s what basketball always did for him. In fact, thanks to his new stepbrother, he was making a younger friend. 

A younger friend that he knew had to the potential to change his life.

  


* * *

  


It was two months into meeting Aomine that he knew he shared a connection with him. 

He couldn’t exactly pinpoint the connection, but he knew it was there. He knew they shared a lot of the same tastes in clothes and sometimes food, played the same basketball position, their birthdays were within weeks of each other, not to mention they brought out a certain fire in each other when they played one on one. A fire that burned from head to toe, keeping them on the court for hours with the outside world meaning nothing around them. 

Kagami realized he’d never felt this way before while playing against anyone. Even when he used to play against Tatsuya, three on three or one on one. The feeling he got while playing Aomine was incomparable to anything or anyone. 

The junior high student was also the closest thing he had to American streetball. His agility, reflexes, and complex movements were all something he never expected to see out of a Japanese basketball player. Especially one so young and talented at that. Thanks to Aomine, he found a rival he didn’t even know he was looking for. 

Except it was at the three-month mark that he realized he was more than a rival but had the potential to be his friend. It didn’t really occur to him until they ended up on a first name basis (courtesy of Aomine of course). 

It happened during one of those now usual occurrences where Kagami and Aomine were hanging out without Kuroko. Only this time Kuroko had volunteered to go grocery shopping with his mother for his leave of absence. It left the two boys at home, but with specific instructions for both of them to do their homework. It wasn’t really a secret that the pair were a couple of basketball idiots with nothing on their minds but the orange leather ball bouncing on an asphalt court. Of course with the exception of food for Kagami and boobs for Aomine. 

Nonetheless, they were both sitting on the floor with books in front of them. At least they were for the first half hour before Aomine stretched his arms over his shoulders and practically turned part feline. He laid stomach first on the floor, his hands resting lazily under his chin and his blue eyes half lidded with disinterest. 

Kagami ignored him at first since Aomine always shifted into cat behavior when he was bored or wanted something. He kept his eyes on the English book in front of him, scowling the whole way through because fuck, no one in America actually speaks like this. He was able to do this for a while till he felt something tickling his feet. 

It didn’t take a genius to know it was Aomine, being the attention whore that he was from time to time. Especially when he wanted something. Kagami continued to overlook him for a few minutes until Aomine started to pull off his sock altogether. 

He jerked his foot away from him, looking under the coffee table to frown at him. “What do you want?” 

Aomine smirked, knowing that he won the fight. “I’m hungry.” 

He narrowed his eyes at him, lightly shoving his foot into Aomine's stomach. “Kuroko and his mom left to get groceries, idiot. There’s nothing here.” 

“Then let’s just go to Maji Burger.” 

He decided to check the time on his phone since he was always up for burgers. Kagami frowned at the time. “It’s almost dinner time and I was gonna cook tonight. Why can’t you just wait?” 

“Because I’m hungry now. And it’s not that much of a far walk. Plus you’re always hungry no matter what time of the day.” 

“Anyways,” Kagami started, “we can wait a bit longer. They should be back with the food in no time.” 

“Or we can already be fed and you can just cook when we get back. It’s not like I’m asking you to stuff your face like you usually do. We can just get half of our usual orders.” Aomine claimed, sitting back up to face Kagami. 

He lightly frowned, hating when it was easy for Aomine to talk him into doing his two favorite things, eating and basketball. “Let’s at least wait five minutes.” 

Aomine groaned, dramatically slumping onto the table. “That’s a waste of time.” He then propped his face up with his right hand. “C’mon Taiga, we could’ve left and been waiting in the line by now.” 

“I’m trying to be the logical one here and you keep—” Kagami stopped, his previous words reaching the final destination of his brain. “Did you just call me Taiga?” 

“I was hoping it’d get your attention. Obviously, since it worked we should just go—” 

“How about no Daiki.” He retorted, folding his arms across his chest. 

Aomine paused, his comeback taking longer than necessary. He was ready to call him his usual vocabulary of names before Kuroko and his mom walked in, bags of food in hand. Throughout the rest of the night and the days leading after, they called each other Taiga and Daiki. 

It was originally a spite thing for the both of them, but it turned into a friend thing pretty quick. It came natural enough to Kagami that even saying Aomine nearly felt foreign to him. However, it probably had to do with what was affecting him in the fourth month of knowing his stepbrother’s friend. 

There was the aggravating urge he had to kiss Daiki. 

He honestly had no idea where the itch to kiss him came from. One second they were watching a really intense basketball game and after an insane buzzer beater that had the both of them jumping off the couch screaming and hugging in excitement, he wanted to kiss him. 

Kagami blamed it on his heart still pounding away from the end of the game, the organ in his chest obviously being confused by why it was beating so fast. The cause of that honestly couldn’t be Aomine Daiki. But it plagued him for the rest of the night so he most likely was the reason. It even had him lying in bed wondering what it would be like to kiss him. 

The height difference the two of them shared wasn’t that big. He himself was currently at six foot three while Daiki stood at five foot eleven. Which meant he’d have to dip down a bit and kiss him, maybe even have the younger boy on his tip toes.

Then the thought of hand placement crossed his mind. Whether he’d wrap his hands around his firm waist and pull him close against his body. Or would his hands fly to his face, his thumbs pressing into his cheeks while his fingers caressed the angles of his jawline. 

Next came the anticipated sounds. He knew Daiki was nothing but quiet when it came down to providing sounds of approval. He was a moaner and groaner that’s for sure. And the sounds he made when he’d stretch after one of their video game face offs had to be illegal. So there’d be soft sounds expelling from both of them, border lining completely shameless. 

He was on the road to picturing the feel of his lips against his own when he was called down to dinner. Kagami couldn’t continue his thoughts after eating since he felt Kuroko’s blank stare on him that night. He always looked like he knew something even when he didn’t say anything and it was unnerving in the worst way. He was also pretty sure that gaze could look through walls so he left those thoughts alone for a while. 

Leaving it alone caused them to manifest into doing more than just kissing Daiki. 

In his defense, he never really tried to think about it. More like Daiki came over the night before for their usual basketball, Maji Burger, and video games and the redhead ended up paying attention to minor details more than usual. The heat of his skin when they were just sitting side by side was maddening and the way his muscles shifted under that white tank top gave him thoughts worth being placed under arrest. 

He heard mental sirens in his head before focusing on his smile. But not that condescending one he sometimes gave on the court. It was the innocent one, all his teeth showing and the word happiness practically written in his eyes. 

It took a couple weeks of large amounts of self-denial and masturbation (he hated to admit) before he came to the sick conclusion that he had a high school crush on Aomine fucking Daiki. Don’t get him wrong, it wasn’t entirely a big deal and his sexuality involving more than just females was something he’s known practically his whole life. 

It was just the fact he was definitely his younger stepbrother’s friend and Daiki was so painfully straight that it gave him a headache. Sure he was only fourteen and there’d probably be a road to sexual discovery in his life sooner or later, but right now it didn’t look like that was in his future. The only thing he could see coming is the increase in Horikita Mai photo books and maybe new unreachable girls to add to his collection. 

Kagami himself also hated having feelings for someone. There was always that infinite level of awkwardness that he faced with liking a person. Trying not to stare at them longer than necessary, being friendly but not too friendly, hanging out but not hanging out too often, keeping your distance when being side by side but not too distant that it seemed that you disliked them and so on. 

He was always a straight forward person for the most part. Even though he didn’t particularly show a huge range of emotions, keeping them to himself when he had a crush was actually pretty tiring. Especially with the added heart rate spikes, carnivorous butterflies practically eating away at his insides every time he saw Daiki’s face, and keeping his eyes and hands to himself when they were within inches of each other. 

Daiki didn’t make it any better. Everyone who knew Aomine Daiki knew that he was fucking touchy. If he hadn’t put his arm around your shoulder at least once in your life, he probably didn’t like you, couldn’t reach you (Murasakibara fell into that category), or he had to know you a little longer. 

Unfortunately Kagami’s known him for months and even though there was a distinct height difference, it didn’t stop that arm from resting on his shoulder after a one on one, video games, or even when he was making dinner. His touching didn’t even stop there since he was the physical contact king. 

If they were sitting on the couch, Daiki would assume his usual cat position and stretch out his legs with Kagami still sitting next to him. When playing video games in the redhead’s room, he’d lean his head on his shoulder once he’d start to get sleepy. His personal (least) favorite was when he’d sit or lay completely on him to get his way since his childish behavior needed no bounds. 

Either way, he had a crush on a beautiful five foot eleven, fourteen-year-old boy with the basketballs skills of a god and he hated it.

  


* * *

  


Kagami thought today was going to be a good day. 

Him and the rest of the Senshinkan first string had plans to attend a streetball tournament after winning their Interhigh, wanting some leisure time before Winter Cup training started. Except it looked like his younger brother and his team had the same idea for their own reasons. 

He practically ran into Kuroko on his way out the door. After noticing his attire and the school basketball bag on his shoulder did he realize his destination was the same as his. This was something he didn’t exactly mind at first thought. He actually wanted to play against Kuroko after seeing one of his games recently. 

He also knew his younger brother felt the same way about the situation. However, Kagami's crush radar went off the charts when he remembered that Daiki was going to be there. This also wasn’t that much of a problem aside from the fact that his team found out about his fixation on the Teikō ace. 

They had time to kill before the high school official matches started so they ended up watching junior high games, Teikō included. Kagami couldn’t help but praise Daiki all throughout the game and shit, he could barely keep his eyes of off him. Not just on the court but when he sat on the bench for time outs. It was painfully obvious to rest of the team. 

Leave it to Hanamiya fucking Makoto to notice his every reaction and eye movement that tracked the apple of his eye on the court. He didn’t say anything until the game was over and they were on their way to the locker room. Since teenage boys were the gossipers they claimed they weren’t, they probed and teased Kagami about it till he confessed Daiki was his younger brother’s friend that he hung out with from time to time. 

That only encouraged them further till Kiyoshi and Mibuchi got the team into gear before their match. Kagami hoped that after their win, the conversation would be long forgotten. He wasn’t sure how he’d lapsed on the fact that Hanamiya was a jackass that wouldn’t let something go even if you twisted his arm behind his back. 

The joking was light hearted all around, but the reminder of his never ending doom also known as his crush on a boy three three years younger than him got pretty annoying and old. Which was why his day was officially ruined the moment his teammates sat down to eat before the tournaments started and Hanamiya spotted Daiki. 

Kagami couldn’t trust him with his life, let alone taking his word for something of that nature. “Shut up, I don’t believe you.” 

“Sorry to break it to you Tai-chan, but that definitely looks like him.” Mibuchi retorted, water bottle in hand. 

“It is him! And the rest of his team! Do you think we’ll be able to play them?” Hayama exclaimed with bright eyes.

Nebuya beat his chest a couple times, a loud burp emitting from his mouth. “I sure hope so. They looked like hot stuff the last time we saw them play.” 

Hanamiya lightly chuckled to himself. “All I wanna do is crush Kagami’s boyfriend into the ground.” 

Kiyoshi looked up from his lunch. “Kagami has a boyfriend?” 

“No!” Kagami shot back after a thick swallow. “I told you he’s my younger brother’s friend.” 

“The way you had your eyes on him said otherwise.” Hanamiya mumbled with a shrug. 

Kagami's unique eyebrows drew together into a glare. “He’s a good player, alright? The kid’s a monster when I play against him one on one.” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Hanamiya sighed. “Plus it looks like he likes you too.” 

“What makes you say that?” Kagami asked. 

“He’s looking this way.” Mibuchi smirked with an elbow to Kagami's ribs. 

Kagami turned his head to see Daiki definitely looking in his direction. Daiki gave him a short wave and that smile that sometimes kept him up at night. He returned the gesture, hoping that there wasn’t any food on his face. When he went to reach for his drink, he noticed all his teammates eyes on him. “What?” 

“Nothing Tai-chan. Just let us know when’s the wedding.” 

“Were you planning on proposing?” Kiyoshi asked, his tone completely serious. 

“If you do, invite me. Large amounts of free food are all I need.” Nebuya stated after a hiccup. 

Hanamiya let out a terse laugh. “Don’t forget to invite me. I’d love to rain on your parade.” 

“Don’t forget me! We should have a basketball match after, so make sure he invites his strong teammates too!” Hayama declared, leaning into Kagami’s space. 

All Kagami could do was sigh and hope his day wouldn’t get any worse.

  


* * *

  


The sequel to his bad day ended on an equally horrible note because bad days always end up worse. 

The tournament ended up getting rained out after Senshinkan was in their third game. They were just a couple matches shy of getting to play Teikō to his dismay. It resulted in his teammates disbanding after getting off the train and Kagami returning home soaked through his t-shirt, hungry and ready to fall asleep. 

His luck continued to run out when he stepped through the door and Kuroko and his mother were on the verge of leaving. It turned out that Kuroko’s grandmother had the flu and they were on their way to visit. Since Kuroko was performing the role as the doting son, Kagami figured he should too. 

Kuroko changed all that by mentioning Daiki was waiting in Kagami’s bedroom for a change of clothes. Kagami didn’t get a chance to ask why he was even staying over before his stepmother and stepbrother were out the door. It was pretty obvious that the heavy rain was the cause of him spending the night, but being alone with Daiki nowadays made him anxious. 

He knew this was gonna be a bad fucking idea. 

Nonetheless, the evening went off to a somewhat difficult start. Difficult for Kagami at least. He had to deal with Daiki walking around only clad in boxers for three minutes. In reality, that time doesn’t seem that long but when you add his fervent crush on Daiki, it turns into eternity. 

There was also the shock value of Kagami minding his own business while he started to prepare for dinner upon entering his home. He made the mistake of turning around to pick up his bag when he came face to face with a frontal view of Aomine Daiki standing in the doorway in his underwear. 

He initially thought it was a joke. In fact, the idea that his teammates signed him up for an embarrassing Japanese game show definitely crossed his mind. There was also the possibility that what he was seeing was that recurring wet dream he had this same exact situation. It was sadly not the latter when Daiki called him Bakagami and told him he could take a picture that’d last much longer. 

He ended up huffing past Daiki and yanking out some clothes for him to put on. Kagami then beelined for the shower with clothes for himself in hand and went straight to the kitchen after to finish up their meal. He called Daiki down after fifteen minutes when he began to plate the food. 

Kagami honestly didn’t have it in him to look at him adorning his clothes but there was no avoiding it once he sat down across the table from him. One of the things he never understood was why people made a big deal out of wearing their significant other’s clothing in relationships with size differences. It basically hit him full force when Daiki stood up to get a drink. 

Kagami's eyes were able to appreciate how loosely the shirt fit around his shoulders and how the length stopped above his knees, making the shorts he lent him seem short. If this is what people considered a boyfriend shirt, he wanted to see Daiki in his clothes more often. Luckily for him, he was able to admire his appearance with terse looks out the corner of his eye for the rest of the night. 

Unfortunately for him as of now, he was currently in a predicament he hated and hated that he enjoyed. 

Him and Daiki were on the inflatable mattress together. It was their object of choice to sit on when playing video games. It also came in handy for quick fall asleep material like it was doing right now. Kagami honestly didn’t mind that Daiki fell asleep on him, he used to it at this point with all their late nights together. 

He ended up doing what he usually did, pushing him off his shoulder and making sure the Teikō ace was comfortable with a pillow and blanket. The redhead took a little longer with this process than usual. He somehow found himself admiring the peacefulness of Daiki's face, the soft curvature of his lips, and the even tone of his brown skin. 

When he turned to roll off the mattress, he felt hands reaching for him and securing around his waist. He initially was going to pull away but there was the possibility that Daiki was in the deepest stage of sleep, reaching blindly for something to hold onto. 

He laid there with his back pressed into the shorter boy’s front for a few minutes before deciding to lightly jostle him and call his name. All it did was cause Daiki to press his face further in between Kagami’s shoulder blades, taking a deep breath before his breathing pattern evened out once more. The redhead inwardly groaned to himself at their proximity while his heart rate continued to spike with each fan of warm breath he felt on his back. 

There wasn’t much he could do at this point but accept his fate. As well as texting his younger brother since his phone was within reach. 

> ** Taiga ** : Daiki's staying in my room tonight.

He flipped his phone shut and took a deep breath of his own, the closeness of their position starting to feel somewhat comfortable. 

> ** Kuroko ** : Don't do anything inappropriate Kagami-kun.

Kagami glared at the screen of his phone. 

> ** Taiga ** : Why would that happen?! ヽ(#`Д´)ﾉ 

Kuroko’s lack of reply was the answer he saw coming. After mentally denying whatever assumptions his phantom stepbrother had concocted, he fell asleep to the sound of Daiki’s breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, i put kagami with the uncrowned kings. i like all of them for the most part (hanamiya could use some work). i also think kagami could connect with them pretty well (including hanamiya) if they were all teammates. 
> 
> also aomine is not gonna be fourteen forever in this fic. there's gonna be some time jumps.
> 
> i'm also a liar. this might have like 20 chapters oops.
> 
> thanks for the feedback on the first chapter and i hope you enjoyed this one! ♥
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated ✌️


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a sleepless night with the words of his friends replaying in his head over and over, Aomine came to the conclusion that he was going to confess to Taiga.

He wasn’t exactly planning on telling Satsuki about his big gay crush on Kagami, but it was inevitable this Valentine’s Day with girls actually leaving love letters in his locker and chocolates given to Satsuki to be given to him. According to her, there was something about his new personality (brought on by Taiga of course) that had girls more interested in him than usual. 

A couple of them were his type even, pretty cute and big boobs to boot. Aomine surprised himself when he told Satsuki to send all of their declarations of love back. He knew accepting them would only give the girls a false sense of hope and he knew that’d probably hurt more than anything. Sadly his act of kindness left him with a Satsuki full of questions and no escape, so he was forced to suck it up. 

For some reason he thought Maji Burger was the right place to do so and he was beginning to regret his decision. After the sentence tumbled out of his mouth, she began choking on the fry she stole from his plate and began to recover with a sip of his banana milkshake. 

He left eye vaguely twitched, watching her take sip after long sip of his drink when hers was still mostly untouched. “I can just buy you one if you’re gonna drink all mine.” 

“I can’t believe you have a crush on Kagamin!” She said after she set the cup aside. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” 

“First of all, Kagamin?” he asked, taking back possession of his shake. “And I dunno, you don’t think it’s kinda weird?” 

Satsuki ignored the first question, reaching for another one of his fries. “Not really,” she started, “I know your type of girl is one with big boobs, but she’d have to share your love of basketball almost as much as you do. I’m not saying you wouldn’t be able to find a girl like that, but finding a boy like that is much easier. Take Kagamin for example.” 

“Did you use your weird analytical skills on me to come to the conclusion that I might end up with a guy?” 

She shrugged, wiping the salt off her fingertips. “Maybe.” 

He sighed, going slack in the booth. “I wish you would’ve given me a heads up.” 

“You have to come to your own realizations Dai-chan," she affirmed. “I’m just happy it’s Kagamin. I was starting to think you had a crush on Tetsu-kun.” 

Aomine stopped himself mid bite into his burger and gave her an incredulous look. “Why Tetsu?” 

“Why not Tetsu! What am I supposed to think when you spend the night at his house all the time and have dinners there? I didn’t even find out about Kagamin till a couple weeks ago thanks to Tetsu-kun.” 

He gave her another skeptical look after he finished swallowing. “How?”

“I had to run to the convenience store for my mom after basketball practice. I ran into Tetsu-kun and Kagamin there and they offered to walk me home since it was getting dark out. Kagamin looks a little overbearing but he’s quite sweet!” she finished with a smile. “I can see why he’s your type.” 

He took a sip of his shake, hoping the smooth banana flavor on his tongue would quell the butterflies that rose in his stomach at the thought of him. “You should’ve told me you went. I would’ve met you there and walked you home.” 

“It’s fine Dai-chan. I know your mom just got back from her business trip, so you were there to greet her when she came home. But more importantly, when are you gonna confess to Kagamin? Valentine’s Day is practically over and I say it’s the perfect day to let him know!” 

His heart rate jumped at the thought, but he shook his head. “I dunno Satsuki,” Aomine paused, looking out the window while taking another sip of his shake. “Me and him have a connection when the two of us are together and sometimes I think he likes me as much as I like him, but I don’t wanna risk our friendship over my confession.” 

“What makes you think he likes you?” 

He couldn't help but slightly grin. “Almost everything we do together. We play basketball, eat here at Maji, he makes me certain foods sometimes, we watch basketball games, play video games, and a lot of our sleepovers end with me waking up in his room. It’s not even those things that show it really, but it’s in the contact we have I guess.” 

She gave him a quizzical look. “What kind of contact?”

He sucked his teeth. “Get your mind out of the gutter Satsuki. Stuff like long eye contact. Or I’ll catch him staring at me with the way I stare at him. And we did hug once, in the heat of the moment. I also lean on him a lot and put my arm around his shoulder. I even sit on him sometimes just to be jackass, so there’s a lot of touching involved.” 

There was even that time from a couple weeks ago when he woke up with his arms around Taiga. He was kind of embarrassed it even happened. Not to mention it was something that kept him up at night and on the verge of heart failure. But he wasn’t going to tell her that. 

“Hm, well it sounds to me like Kagamin definitely doesn’t hate you but he definitely likes you for sure. If he hasn’t completely shut your friendship down then obviously he cares about you. Everyone knows how much of a handful you can be.” Satsuki claimed after a sip of her soda. 

Aomine narrowed his eyes at the last part, but finished off his remaining fries. “So what do you think I should do? I mean, I’ve told Tetsu I like Taiga too and he’s never really told me to go for it or not go for it. He lives with the guy so he’d be the best one to tell me if I’m wasting my time.” 

“Have you ever asked Tetsu-kun if Kagamin likes you?” 

“Yes, several times,” he groaned. “He gives me Tetsu answers about how he’s not going to be the mediator and how I should ask him myself.” 

“Ooh! I think that’s good news," she said, leaning over to his side of the table in excitement. “Tetsu-kun wouldn’t tell you something like that if he didn’t think you had a chance.” 

He nodded, finishing off the rest of his shake with a series of loud slurps. “Maybe you’re right. But I can’t tell him today. Tetsu told me that their parents are making them go on a family Valentine’s Day dinner thing since Taiga’s dad isn’t around much for family bonding.” 

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Why not?” 

“Taiga’s dad is some business consultant big shot so he’s in America most of the time. He’s working on bringing the business to Japan, but it’s more difficult than he thought.” 

“Oh, so is Kagamin rich?” 

Aomine nodded once more, brushing the leftover crumbs from his pants onto the floor. “In a nutshell, yes. He lives right by our neighborhood in that string of recently built modern houses.” 

“Wow Dai-chan! Who knew you had such good tastes? Cute, nice, cooking skills, tolerates you, and he has money. That’s better than I expected out of you.” 

“Hey! My tastes are plenty good. I’m friends with you and Tetsu aren’t I?” 

“You didn't have friends a couple of months ago when you were in your mood,” she reminded with a pout. 

“I’ve said I was sorry,” he mumbled. “Besides, you should thank Taiga for bringing me out of it. Who knows what I’d be like right now.” 

She smiled around the straw in her mouth. “You’re right. I think you should tell him that when you confess.” 

He pursed his lips, deciding to look out the window. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“I think you should go for it! Call it a woman’s intuition.” 

He propped his head on his left hand, his eyes following the people on the streets. “I dunno about calling you a woman—ow! Don’t kick me under the table!” 

“When I’m right, you’re taking me to that café by the bookstore.” 

His eyebrows pinched together as he frowned. “Who said I was confessing?” 

“Trust me Dai-chan, you will. You’re gonna take one look at Kagamin and remember how you feel about him and it’s gonna spill out.” 

Aomine's features softened, slightly picturing the situation in his head. For the sake of his heart and the hope of his friendship with Taiga continuing in the future, he hoped she was dead wrong.

 

* * *

 

“Are you gonna help me out or are you gonna keep ignoring me by reading that book for the tenth time?” 

Kuroko looked up from said book and sighed. “I’d prefer not to have this conversation again Aomine-kun. This is also the third time I’ve read it, not tenth.” 

He grimaced at him across the table. “I’d prefer if we did have this conversation. All you have to do is tell me if I have a chance with Taiga. A yes or no answer.” 

Thanks to his chat with Satsuki a few days before, the thought of confessing to Taiga ran through his head day and night. He still thought it was a bad idea, but eating dinner with Taiga and Tetsu the day before helped remind him how strong his feelings were like a punch to the gut. He didn’t know why, but he just felt like he had to tell him and the thought of it couldn’t leave him alone. 

“I don’t bring up such matters with Kagami-kun,” he began, “besides, what’s your plan?” 

Aomine opened his mouth, ready to counter but balked quickly at the question. “What do you mean by plan?” 

A dejected sigh spilled from his lips. “This is what I mean Aomine-kun. What if you tell Kagami-kun your feelings? What do you expect in return?” 

“I dunno,” he mumbled, his blue eyes downcast to the table, “I’ve honestly never thought of the aftermath of my confession. I kinda just assumed he’d like me back and maybe we’d try dating or something.” 

“Tell me Aomine-kun, can you really see yourself as a boyfriend right now?” 

“Fuck Tetsu, what’s with all the questions? It’s the weekend and we just finished practice like an hour ago, let my brain rest.” 

Kuroko’s passive stare evolved into one of slight disappointment. “I’m doing this for your own good Aomine-kun. I know the idea of you confessing to Kagami-kun sounds nice, but you need to think realistically. You also need to take Kagami-kun into consideration. What if he turns you down during this supposed confession?” 

Aomine easily hesitated again, his right hand rubbing the nape of his navy blue hair in discontentment. “Shit Tetsu, I don’t know. I don’t know anything, okay? I’d like to think he wouldn’t turn me down.” 

But the thought hit him right in the stomach, brought along with a rolling wave of anxiety and the brief pick up of his heart rate. He knew for one thing that it’d hurt real bad. It also seemed impossible to try and even face Taiga again if that would be the outcome. Hanging out with him as just friends would only rub the rejection into his face more. 

“I know it seems that I’m being hard on you Aomine-kun, but Kagami-kun is my stepbrother and you’re one of my closest friends. I also appreciate the friendship that has blossomed between the two of you over the last half year. You bring out the best in each other and I’d hate to see that connection destroyed all over a love confession on your part.” 

His dark blue eyes met his light ones, the amount of how much he cared shining through. “Fine, fine. I get where you’re coming from,” he sighed. “Ask me more questions then and help me answer them. Maybe the more I realize this is a bad idea, I’ll hold off on it.” 

“What question bothered you the most?” 

“The one about Taiga turning me down," he replied, the creeping feeling of sickness washing over him once more. “Hypothetically, what do you think would be his reasoning?” 

“The age difference,” Kuroko answered without thought. “Three years isn’t a huge gap but I’m sure Kagami-kun would prefer not to date a junior high student while he’s in high school. Also if things decide to progress physically in your relationship, Kagami-kun would possibly feel like he’s taking advantage of you.” 

Aomine nodded in understanding. “I’ve never even thought of the physical aspect before.” 

Kuroko deadpanned yet he wasn’t all that surprised with his friend’s response. “Do you know the basics around gay intercourse Aomine-kun?” 

“Damn Tetsu, just say sex,” he laughed. “And yeah, kinda. A friend of Satsuki’s has a lot of yaoi doujinshi that she leaves over at her house. I read a couple so the concept doesn’t seem that hard to grasp.” 

“Sorry to break this to you Aomine-kun, but those things are nowhere near real life portrayals of sex.” 

“I know that! I read it for the mechanics and nothing else,” he countered, heat suddenly rising to his cheeks. 

The physical aspect was something he has actually thought about, but it was something he’s tried to mentally avoid at all costs. Sure, he could read a gravure magazine in public no problem, with a straight face at that. Even break out into a loud conversation about boobs if the moment required, but there was something about thoughts of him and Taiga sexually that proved to be too much for him. 

The furthest his mind could go was the two of them making out (even with his lack of kissing experience). On a good day he could imagine the two of them making out with Taiga on top of him and nestled between Aomine's thighs on a bed. He once tried to picture them giving and receiving hand jobs, but it got embarrassing real fast so he left that thought in his mental recycling bin. 

Kuroko lightly shook his head. “What about what I mentioned earlier? Do you want to be Kagami-kun’s boyfriend or did you just want to tell him that you like him and not act on your feelings?”

Aomine was silent for a moment, a glare adorning his face in concentration. “Shit, I really don’t know. If we date, there’s the possibility of things not going right like you said and our friendship ending. But if I tell him how I feel and he feels uncomfortable, our friendship could end their too. What if Taiga’s not even interested in guys and I’m wasting my time?” 

“I think he is. I didn’t tell you this but I asked Kagami-kun what his type was. According to him, he likes an elegant person.” 

“How does that prove his sexuality?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow. 

“Person is a neutral term instead of him specifically saying boy or girl. I take that as Kagami-kun being open minded when it comes to whoever he finds worth his time.” 

He nodded, taking in the information with slight confidence. “I think I’m pretty elegant. Don’t you think Tetsu?” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Aomine-kun,” he began while reaching for his book. “To cut this conversation short, I think you should think hard about confessing to Kagami-kun and consider all the outcomes and possibilities. I want things to work out for the both of you.” 

He sighed, momentarily closing his eyes. “Just give me a straight answer to the last question I have. Do you think I have any chance at all with Taiga? If my confession isn’t worth shit, I’d rather know now and not when I’m standing in front of him when he tells me no.” 

Kuroko gave him a small nod. “I definitely think Kagami-kun has taken a liking to you. Even if the confession doesn’t work out initially, I don’t think it could hurt to try again. Possibly in high school when he sees you more on his level.” 

“Fuck,” he muttered, the thought of it sending his emotions on overload, “I’m practically sticking my neck out here. If this doesn’t work out, I’m taking you down with me.” 

“There’s nothing you could possibly do to me Aomine-kun.” 

“I could tell Kise where you live,” he said, watching the dread quickly fill Kuroko's face. 

“I could tell Momoi-san about your new hiding spot for gravure magazines.” 

Aomine’s lips pursed in frustration before he groaned in defeat. “You play dirty Tetsu.” 

“It’s a hard job but someone has to do it Aomine-kun.”

 

* * *

 

Aomine’s mom was home when he got in and he couldn’t be happier. 

She usually worked early mornings and late nights since she was a news broadcast writer. Her job even required her to travel to different locations in Japan and neighboring countries. There was something about her broadcast journalism writing that had her requested for seminars and workshops with the sudden wave of journalism of all kinds on the rise. 

He understood it, but it didn’t change the fact that he missed seeing his mother. Sadly, the news never stopped (even though he prayed the world would stand still for just a day) and in return she barely had time off. It was also what brought on his parent’s impending divorce. 

In all honesty, he never thought it’d happen. Self denial was his particular mood that month. There was basketball not living up to his expectations, his friendships on the rocks, and then the swift kick of seeing signed divorce papers on the kitchen counter when he got home from school. 

His dad was a busy man himself, a police chief for a small part of the Tokyo prefecture with plenty of late nights and early mornings himself. There were only so many times his parents couldn’t see each other when they lived in the same house for a happy marriage to last. 

With the divorce finalized, Aomine chose to stay with his mom. He was a slight mama’s boy, plus she held ownership of his childhood home that was within the Teikō school district. He saw his dad from time to time. Forced lunch and shopping dates with small updates about his school life and how he was doing on the basketball team. 

He loved his parents, but he loved them even more when they were together and he wasn’t the reason they still talked from time to time. Nonetheless, he enjoyed his mom’s company when he could get it. Especially her cooking skills since he tried not to impose on the Momoi and Kagami-Kuroko household too much when he got sick of Maji Burger. 

Dinner was going perfect to make things better. There were portions of his favorites layed out on the table and he didn’t even know where to start first. He started off simple by going with the beef stew, suddenly wishing he hadn’t once his mother tried to break out into light conversation. 

“How’s Tetsuya-kun been since the move? I finally had the pleasure of meeting Kagami-kun, but not Kagami senior a few weeks ago.”

He was pretty sure a piece of beef was lodged in his esophagus for a moment at the question. “When was this?” he asked after clearing his throat.

She gave him a cynical look at his random choking, lowering her chopsticks for more rice. “The weekend of Tetsuya-kun’s birthday. Kagami-kun and the now Kagami-san were out shopping for his birthday. I was on lunch when I ran into them at the store. He’s a very handsome boy.” 

Aomine took a sip of his water to stop his phrase in agreement, handsome indeed. “He’s alright I guess. What’d you guys talk about?” 

“Kagami-san told me about the new house, her happiness in the new marriage, and adult matters. We briefly talked about Kagami-kun. He’s tall for a high school boy, but I guess that explains why he’s on the basketball team at Senshinkan. Have you played him? I know you’ve spent a lot of time over there these past couple of months.” 

Leave it to his mother to get straight to the point. “Yeah, he’s really good,” he attempted to say in a nonchalant way when in reality he wanted to put him on a pedestal. “I hope I get to play him when I get to high school.” 

She hummed in confirmation, chopsticks still centimeters away from her lips. “That is soon isn’t it? You’ll be a third year in a few months. What year is Kagami-kun?” 

“He’s a first year even though he’s seventeen.” 

“Did they mess up his credits after his transfer from America?” 

He shook his head. “When he first moved to America he had problems learning English as a kid. His parents didn’t make it any better for his learning experience when they divorced shortly after the move there, so he ended up being a year behind.” 

“Oh, well that’s terrible.”

“I guess,” he mumbled, reaching for his rice. 

Taiga told him the story when he asked about his age one day. At the time he felt bad since his parent’s divorce was still fresh in his head. Not to mention his own English skills were completely garbage for the most part so he knew that should’ve been hard on a child. Aomine was happy Kagami failed a year for his own selfish reasons. They had a chance to play in a real high school match a few years from now and that gave him all the fire he needed. 

“How are you by the way?” she asked, her brown eyes showing concern. “I know the divorce did a small number on you and I couldn’t really be there the way I wanted to. As a parent—” 

“Ma, it’s fine. Trust me,” he said, giving her a smile, “I was just unhappy with some school stuff. Everything’s fine now.”

“That’s good,” she said, returning the gesture. “But remember Daiki, if anything’s wrong I need you to come to me. I know you’re just a teenage boy and I’m you’re mother, but I want you to tell me things and not bottle them up.” 

He nodded, still chewing cabbage. “Alright, alright ma. I will.” 

The brief thought of mentioning that he had a crush on his basketball rival that was three years older than him came up, but he quickly pushed it away by asking how her day was at work.

 

* * *

 

After a sleepless night with the words of his friends replaying in his head over and over, Aomine came to the conclusion that he was going to confess to Taiga. 

He was currently laying in Taiga's bed post showering after their usual one on one Saturday’s. He was waiting for Taiga to get out the shower himself before he broke the news. All the waiting was making the Maji Burger churn in his stomach. 

Unfortunately for him, Satsuki was right. It was after Taiga won their one on one session that Aomine realized how hopelessly smitten he was. Taiga's smile was infectious and the heat of his sweaty arm around his shoulder resulted in the resurrection of carnivorous butterflies in his intestines. 

He was ready to pour his heart out all over the court before the growl of his stomach cut him off. He decided to take it as a sign of fate that the time wasn’t right and proposed they went to Maji Burger to end the day. The whole time he ate, spikes of dread would hit him at the thought of having confessed on the court. 

It was what pushed his decision to confess when they got back to Taiga's place. He didn’t want his emotions to control him like they’ve been doing for the past couple of months. Only now his feelings for Taiga have grown and it’s bound to get worse with the more he gets to know him. 

Not only that but, he felt the timing and situation was perfect. Kuroko’s mother decided to accompany Kagami’s father for a two week trip in America. And luckily for him, Kuroko himself decided to visit his grandparents this particular weekend, so the house was empty.

There was no options for interruption and if he personally had to make an escape back to his own home due to his confession not working out as planned, he’d have a simple trek out the house. 

The plan sounded foolproof at best so he hoped he wasn’t getting ahead of himself. His Aomine Daiki confidence had saved him in multiple situations and he had the feeling it was going to work out here. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to leave Taiga's house upset tonight. 

Well, he thought that for a couple of minutes until the redhead returned fresh out the shower. He looked good sporting his usual black t-shirt and white basketball shorts combo. It caused Aomine to thickly swallow as he sat up, watching him enter the room while still toweling his hair dry. 

Taiga lightly glared at him, slinging the towel over his desk chair. “What have I told you about laying in my bed like you own the place?” 

“I like you,” Aomine blurted without thought. 

A look of confusion that transformed into awe plagued Taiga's features in a matter of seconds. “What’d you say?” 

Aomine stood up, taking a deep breath before looking into crimson eyes. “I said I like you. As in like you, like you,” he announced, hands balled up at his sides as he decided to keep going. “I’ve liked you for months, okay? And I just can’t keep it to myself anymore. Fuck, sometimes I just look at you and my stomach feels sick in a good way and my heart rate gets all messed up.

“I know you probably don’t know it, but you brought me out of a possible dark place in my life since you showed up. Basketball was starting to mean nothing to me until I played you on the court that day several months ago,” he paused, tersely breaking the strong gaze between him and Taiga before he continued. 

“You’ve also been able to tolerate me and that’s something many people can’t exactly do. I can be pretty needy and touchy sometimes. I also have too many gravure magazines and I have a constant basketball pretty much bouncing through my head. But, I like you a lot. You’re hot, you put up with me, and your style of basketball keeps me up at night and that’s all I really need right now,” he finished, slightly out of breath and his words beginning to run together towards the end. 

Taiga stood still and listened to every word, a range of emotions flickering through his eyes. The eye contact between the two of them was heavy. It was too much for him and the reply he was about to give so he looked at the floor. “I can’t return your feelings.” 

Aomine’s eyes briefly widened in shock. The feeling of the world falling beneath his feet as a wave containing fear, rejection, and anxiety swallowed him whole and pulled him to the bottom. “Why?” he protested, his voice coming out weak. “I don’t get it. I thought you liked me back.” 

Taiga scowled at the floor in frustration, trying to keep his composure. “Daiki, I just can’t return your feelings.” 

His mood quickly evolved from one of disbelief to anger. Aomine grimaced at Taiga, taking a step closer into his space. “What does that even mean? Do you like me or not?” 

He groaned in annoyance. “I don’t want to talk about this," he claimed, turning to walk out his room. 

He easily cut him off, closing the bedroom door and planted himself in front of it. “We’re gonna talk about this,” Aomine commanded, his voice laced with desperation and madness. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for me and I’ll let you leave the room.” 

Taiga was taken back. Not only by his words but also the raw emotion present in his features. His young face wore a look of misery and his eyes were filled with the torment of being rejected. In return he just shook his head, looking at the rug on his floor. 

A few minutes passed, Aomine's blunt fingernails digging into his palms in anger before he pushed off the door and bumped his way past Taiga. He walked over to where his phone was charging in the corner, ripping the charger out the wall and stuffing the item and his cell in his pocket. He shoved a couple more of his items into his school bag while he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. 

When he turned around, his blue eyes landed on Taiga still standing near the door with his gaze on the floor and his shoulders tense. Aomine tried to ignore the dejected look on his face while attempting to walk past him, his own face downcast in the same manner. 

He was cut short by a warm hand on his shoulder. Aomine didn’t bother looking up, waiting to hear what Taiga might have to say since he stopped him. 

Taiga pursed his lips before he stepped in front of him, looking down at the top of his navy blue hair. “Daiki, can you look at me please?” 

He shook his head, his eyes focusing on their feet instead. 

Taiga let out a frustrated sigh, firmly placing his hands on Aomine’s shoulders and then trailing them up to his face. He easily tilted his chin up so he could meet his gaze. In return he learned that it was possible to feel like the worst person on earth by just looking into someone else’s eyes that he’d hurt. 

The fresh young face Taiga was used to seeing suddenly looked much younger and empty. There was a permanent frown set in his lips, his blue eyes now dark and glassy with held back tears, and his brown skin looked slightly pale in his tan hands. 

Taiga briefly held his breath, guilt worming its way and nudging a spot into his heart. It didn’t help that his thoughts were all over the place. His impromptu rejection to the younger boy he had a crush on backfiring in the most painful of ways. 

“Daiki...” he trailed off, trying to find the right words while looking into his eyes. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Aomine asked, his voice coming out smaller than intended. 

He paused, knowing his next words would probably get him trouble. “I’m thinking about how badly I want to kiss you right now,” he said softly. 

His eyes widened in disbelief before he quickly regained his composure. Aomine dropped the school bag on his shoulder to the floor and placed his hands over the warm ones cradling his face. “Then go for it.” 

Taiga took one more meaningfully look into his eyes and did just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the lovely feedback! ♥
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated ✌️


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami suddenly felt hurt, wishing that things didn’t have to end this way. Yet, he nodded anyway, knowing that this was the best choice for the both of them.

Daiki’s lips were just as soft as they looked and they felt full against his own. The first press of their lips together was gentle, a slow and drawn out pucker of both their mouths until they pulled back and their noses brushed against each other’s and breath mingled.  
   
Kagami’s eyes were half-lidded, looking at the dreamy features on Daiki’s face from the tenderness of the kiss they shared. His navy-blue eyes held an obvious look of want, Daiki’s hands balled up tight in Kagami’s black t-shirt.  
   
Kagami silently asked for permission, his hands dropping from Daiki’s face to his waist as he pulled Daiki closer. A sly look appeared on Daiki’s features, his hands letting go of Kagami’s t-shirt for his arms to circle around Kagami’s neck. He slightly rose on his tip toes but Kagami met him halfway, their lips molding together like two pieces of a puzzle. 

The kiss was gentle once more, their lips parting and finding each other faster every time they separated. The sound of their kisses filled the room, the reverberation of wet lips smacks, labored breathing, and small moans. In turn, the kiss became feverish, Daiki pressing himself harder against Kagami, dragging his fingers along the dark red hair at his nape. 

Kagami groaned at that, his lips lightly parting and his grip on Daiki’s waist becoming firmer. Daiki tried his best not to smile into the kiss, feeling a small victory at breaking his crush down. As a result, Kagami pushed their kiss further, his tongue brushing against Daiki’s smirk. 

He stilled at that for a bit before parting his lips to allow Kagami’s tongue to enter his mouth. The sensation immediately overcame Daiki, the glide of his tongue against another brought on unwarranted tingles of pleasure. Daiki immediately moaned, quickly meeting Kagami’s rhythm as their tongues moved together in unison. Kagami’s right hand even trailed under Daiki’s shirt, his warm palm pressing into Daiki’s hip. 

After a few minutes they separated, Kagami resting his forehead against Daiki’s while their breath fanned across each other’s faces. Daiki searched Kagami’s face for an expression, their eyes meeting when Kagami finally looked up from the floor. Daiki’s grip tightened around Kagami’s neck, not wanting to let go and let the moment end before reality hit the both of them in the face. 

Kagami felt unsure of himself as the creeping feeling of wrongdoing yet satisfaction arose on his emotional spectrum. He hadn’t felt this close to someone in so long, the intimacy and rush of affection that was brought on by having a crush and being liked back had him torn. Daiki was looking at him with pure adoration, his finger nails still lightly scraping at Kagami’s nape. 

Kagami’s eyes dropped down to Daiki’s lips, suddenly fuller and pink from all their kissing. He wanted to kiss him again, touch Daiki more and take his time. He knew it wasn’t possible because of the thought at the forefront of his mind. 

He’s a child. Aomine Daiki is a child. Of course, a fourteen-year-old isn’t a complete child, but a minor from a legal standpoint. Someone who is still able to make their choices and worthy of their own agency yet not even close to adulthood. And Kagami’s in his own bedroom, unabashedly making out with a minor and enjoying it more than he should. 

Kagami pressed his lips together into a line, knowing that his own voice would make the situation a harsher reality. “Daiki, we need to–”

“Don’t say stop,” Daiki pleaded, looking into Kagami’s eyes with ferocity, “I don’t want to stop.” 

“You know this isn’t right.” Kagami chided, his grip on Daiki’s waist loosening. “I just turned you down, I can’t be with you.” 

“I don’t care.” Daiki claimed, suddenly feeling the moment they had before now lost and his self-confidence deflating with it. 

Kagami’s forehead still rested against Daiki’s warm one, the closeness of their conversation making it that much harder for him to take a step back. “Daiki, c’mon. You have to let me go.” 

Daiki knew Kagami’s words were meant physically and emotionally, but he refused to do either. His arms around Kagami’s neck stayed put and his heart kept up its rhythmic beating, declaring its anxious feelings of love. “If I let go things aren’t gonna be the same, and you know that.” 

Kagami sighed through his nose since he damn sure knew that. He wanted Daiki to be the one to let go this time because of his previous rejection of Daiki’s feelings. Kagami already took a step back the first time, he didn’t want to take a few steps forward and even more back to play with Daiki’s emotions. “Look, we can just–”

Kagami was abruptly cut off by his cellphone, the cellular device vibrating and obnoxiously ringing from his desk. The two of them shared a look, Daiki looking solemn again while Kagami’s face read as remorseful yet hesitant to drop the conversation altogether. 

It was Daiki that begrudgingly dropped his arms from Kagami’s neck at the phone’s second time ringing. Kagami dashed for the phone a few feet away and managed to catch the phone on its final ring, not bothering to the check the caller I.D. 

“Hello?” Kagami said, hoping not to sound too ticked off. 

_“It’s me Kagami-kun.”_

Kagami’s eyebrows drew together in a mix of frustration and confusion. “Kuroko, why are you calling me?” 

_“I’m sorry for whatever I interrupted between you and Aomine-kun, but I’m afraid to admit that I lied to you earlier about where I was going.”_

Kagami’s expression further morphed into more perplexity, looking at Daiki sitting on the edge of his bed. “If you’re not at your grandparent’s house, then where are you?” 

_“I’m with an old friend, Ogiwara-kun. I was planning on actually spending the night at his house, but we got caught up playing basketball and we missed the final train.”_ Kuroko confessed. _“So, we’re on our way back to our home.”_

Kagami took in the information, somewhat shocked that Kuroko lied just to hang out with someone, but also nervous since he and Daiki were still in the middle of their own discussion. “Well, be careful making your way back here since it’s late. Also, there are leftovers in the fridge if you guys haven’t eaten.” 

_“Thank you Kagami-kun, sorry for the intrusion.”_

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just make it home okay. I’ll see you later.” Kagami said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. 

_“Goodbye Kagami-kun.”_

Kagami returned the farewell and hung up the phone. He sighed before taking in the image of Daiki, laying back on the bed with his legs kicking back and forth in boredom. Kagami was uncertain of what to say and how to approach any impending comments. Luckily Daiki spoke so he didn’t have to. 

“So, Kuroko’s coming back home?” Daiki asked, his eyes fixated on the ceiling. 

“Yeah,” Kagami said, placing his cellphone down, “he’s bringing a friend named Ogiwara.” 

Daiki’s legs stopped kicking and he sat up on his elbows to look Kagami in the face. “Ogiwara? I was teasing Tetsu about having a crush on the kid, but wow who knew.” 

“Yeah, speaking of crushes,” Kagami quickly acknowledged, stepping closer to Daiki, “we need to talk about what just happened.” 

Daiki’s eyebrows drew together, a look of annoyance gracing his features. “No,” he declared, getting up from the bed, “I’m going home.” 

A sound erupted from Kagami’s chest, a mixture of laughter and a scoff at the predictable yet ridiculousness of the situation. “Of course you are. Of fucking course, you’re just gonna leave.” He said, folding his arms while he watched Daiki pick up his bag and shrug it onto his shoulder. 

Daiki halted at the door, suddenly feeling angry at Kagami’s tone. “What the fuck does that mean?” He asked, turning around to face him.

Kagami deeply sighed, the exhale flowing from his lips in an attempt to calm himself down. He wasn’t about to argue with a fourteen-year-old. “You know, what? It means nothing, just go. I’ll talk to you another time.” He finished, turning his back on Daiki to reach for his game console. 

Daiki glared at Kagami’s back, his fist balling up in frustration before he relaxed it. His features also softened, suddenly wanting to take back what he said. Daiki chewed at the corner of his lip before turning back around to head through the door. “Later.” 

Kagami waited till after he heard the front door open and close before he kicked his desk chair out of irritation. “Fuck.” He cursed to himself, scowling at his television and ignoring the pain coursing through his foot. 

He knew he wasn’t good at confrontation, emotions, and saying the right thing at the right time but this took the cake. Kagami almost had the nerve to show up at Daiki’s house, knowing that if they let the conversation die here, who knows what would happen next. 

Instead, Kagami sat on the floor and leaned against his bed, sitting straight up with his elbows resting on his knees while he watched the loading screen of his game console. He felt like shit, but he was anxious and frustrated. Collectively, Kagami was a ball of emotions trying not implode. 

His thoughts briefly went back to the intimate moment Daiki and him shared. The memory was now soured by their abrupt fight and separation. 

He thought he was in his own personal hell before when he just had a crush on a fourteen-year-old boy, but now having made out with that said fourteen-year-old and giving him a false sense of hope was even more hellish. 

Kagami hoped what he was feeling now was just temporary and he’d get over it in a few days. Emotions and thoughts don’t last forever. Well, that’s what he told himself as he put a game controller in his hand and played his (and Daiki’s) favorite game.

 

* * *

 

   
It’d only been a week after what Kagami called _The Incident_ , AKA his botched attempt at turning down a confession to someone he happened to like back. 

It still kept him up at night.  
   
Sometimes it kept him up at night in a good way, his mind drifting towards the deep, soft kiss and his hand gripping warm brown skin while the scent known as Daiki invaded his senses. Unfortunately, the feeling of guilt and disappointment in himself was the one that kept him up at night the most. Kagami would roll around in his bed every five to ten minutes, resulting in him being hot and the sheen of sweat on his skin making him feel trapped in his bedding.  
   
It wasn’t just at night, but also during the day where his mind would drift off during class, basketball practice, and even his favorite subject, lunch.  
   
He honestly felt like the scum of the earth. He was absolutely the adult here. And even though he was just a high school first year, he absolutely knew better. He was the older one between the two of them and kissing a middle schooler was just something he couldn’t let slide on his part. He caved like a wild animal with a piece of fresh meat in front of its face. All it took was one look into those deep blue eyes and that beautiful face and he went in for the kill.  
   
Kagami was seventeen for fuck’s sake, so of course, he was a hormonal teenage boy, but there wasn’t an excuse for kissing someone three years evidently younger than him after a poor attempt of turning him down. He was usually full of self-control (minus his eating habits) and this felt like a complete and utter failure on his part.  
   
Not only did he kiss Daiki and thoroughly enjoy it, but he probably put him on the road to a false hope. He liked the younger teen, _a lot_. But the chances of them dating at their current ages were slim to none. If the previous reaction Daiki had when he turned him down was bad, he knew the temper tantrum he was going to throw when he told him they couldn’t be together after that kiss and a small fight was going to be twice as bad. 

Possibly bad enough to throw a wrench into their friendship (if he could even call it that), which was something he definitely didn’t want. They haven’t talked since that unfortunate situation. Kuroko knew about _The Incident_ since Kagami told him while Ogiwara showered that night. Of course, Kuroko agreed that both of them made poor choices during the confession, but Kuroko admitted he couldn’t exactly speak on that due to his lying catching up to him as well. 

At the end of the week, Kagami asked Kuroko how Daiki was doing since he couldn’t help but ask. It was a weird feeling not seeing a text in his phone from Daiki at least once a day, so he just had to know what was going on in his life. According to Kuroko, Daiki was a little moody sometimes but overall, he was doing well. Daiki even asked about Kagami, which made Kagami happy because he was worried about being hated by him. 

Actually, Daiki had every reason to. Who would want to be kissed by their crush after being told that they can’t be together multiple times and not despise them just a little bit afterward? Kagami knew how he would personally feel; angry, hurt, and loathing of the other person’s existence. But given Daiki’s previous response, he probably felt that times a hundred and more, and Kagami didn’t want him to feel like that ever. 

However, their abrupt separation made him realize that Daiki was a big part of his life. 

Daiki’s absence for a whole week showed how their relationship was deeper than he thought. Kagami usually saw him every day, either at his house after school next to Kuroko or at the street basketball court where they’d meet after leaving their teammates at basketball practice. Then, they’d follow up with dinner at Maji Burger or Kagami’s house, with him usually making the meals. 

Sometimes Daiki would invade his space after dinner so that the two of them could play video games until it was late at night. It usually resulted in the both of them waking up for school late the next day. They’d text each other during basketball practice, blaming one another for not taking a deserved video game loss instead of demanding a rematch. It was a vicious cycle that Kagami didn’t want to lose immediately. 

He also didn’t want to lose his overall interactions with Daiki. Kagami missed their five-second to two-minute fights about basketball matchups, food, and dumb stuff. He missed Daiki always touching him, his arm around his shoulder, his legs somehow finding their way into his lap, Daiki’s overall talent for taking up space and touching someone at the same time. 

Every time he took up space, he left his smell behind. The scent was subtle, a mixture of fresh laundry, and whatever popular cologne every boy was wearing in his grade. But it smelled good on Daiki and Kagami even caught himself sniffing for it a little too hard when they hung out once or twice. Daiki even noticed him doing it, which invoked a witty remark of telling Kagami to go sniff one of his t-shirts or something and a smile. 

Of course, Daiki’s smile was annoyingly captivating. It ranged on how Daiki was feeling, but his smile either showed off his teeth or highlighted the fullness of his lips when he smirked. Kagami was reluctant to admit it, but he knew the cold, hard truth that the kid was cute. Daiki’s eyes were unbelievably blue, a perfect contrast from his brown skin and dark blue hair. His face was also a little round from certain angles, his baby fat still clinging to him at fourteen. It made Daiki look innocent, even though the kid had too many boob magazines for his age. It was obvious that Daiki was young and attractive, bound to turn heads when he was older. 

Kagami hated it, but he missed him. He missed everything about him and between them, and he hated himself for missing it all. He knew they created a pretty solid bond over the last half year, but his crush only amplified how much he missed their interactions a hundred-fold. It was probably due to his lack of romantic experience and craving the touch someone had to offer but based off of how he and Daiki’s last interaction went he knew things were going to change. The change was definitely for worse and he was unsure about how he was going to handle it, but he’d deal with that when it happened. 

He suddenly yearned for someone to talk to about the situation. Mentally beating himself up about it and thinking about what he couldn’t change was only giving him a headache. Not to mention, he had math and science homework he hadn’t even thought about touching even with it due the following day.  
   
Kagami blew a deep breath through his nose, his unique eyebrows drawn together as he glared at the ceiling. He had an idea of who he wanted to talk to, but he was also sure he didn’t want to have this conversation with him, let alone himself.  
 

 

* * *

 

   
“So, why’d you ask me out on a date Tai-chan?” Mibuchi asked, a teasing smile gracing his lips.  
   
Kagami gave him a threatening glare, carefully chewing his food. He normally wouldn’t go to anyone for his problems, but he felt that he was running out of options at this point. Plus, Mibuchi was the easiest to talk to since he was openly gay and not too judgmental. 

“Me and you both know this isn’t a date,” Kagami replied with a scowl. “I just need your advice on something.”  
   
“I already told you your eyebrows are easily fixable with just some tweezers–”  
   
“It’s not about my eyebrows!” he exclaimed, nearly knocking over his soda. “It’s actually about me and Aomine.”  
   
Mibuchi’s eyes immediately brightened and he leaned forward in absolute interest. “Are you guys officially together?”  
   
“No,” he mumbled, his eyes downcast on his plate, “it’s more like I think I’m on a path to leading him on.”  
   
“How could you be leading him on? You both like each other and it’s painfully obvious, right?” he asked. 

Kagami sighed, looking up to his teammate’s gaze. “I made out with him after I turned down his confession. He looked sad and I felt shitty so I kissed him.” He admitted. 

“Wow,” Mibuchi said, reaching for another French fry. “That’s not how you turn down someone’s confession.” 

“Tell me about it.” He huffed, coming to terms with the memory. “It didn’t go past kissing, but that’s going too far on a fourteen-year-old that has a massive crush on you that you just turned down.” 

“You feel disgusted with yourself.” Mibuchi confirmed, watching Kagami take a sip of his soda. 

“Yes,” Kagami surmised, swallowing the anxiety formed lump in his throat. “I’m the older one. I should be able to control myself and my hormones, you know? He’s just a kid. Plus, I turned him down minutes before, so it’s like I fucked up big time.” 

“You like him though, right?” he questioned, watching Kagami’s face for his expression. 

“Of course, but–”

Mibuchi held up a hand to stop his reply. “Then, you’re just a victim of your own emotions and attraction to Aomine. You don’t even see him as a fourteen-year-old sometimes, do you?” 

“No,” he acknowledged, opening another burger wrapper. “I forget since he’s almost my height. And then his maturity when it comes to basketball is ridiculous. But then he’ll make a joke about big boobs or he’ll be hanging out with Kuroko and then it hits me.” 

He hummed in confirmation. “Well, it’s great that you treat him and see him as your equal, but obviously not in this case.” Mibuchi began. “So, what do you plan on doing?” 

Kagami rolled his eyes, still chewing a bite of his double cheese burger. “I don’t know. I just know for sure that me and him can’t happen. At least right now.” 

“So, later then? How much later?” 

He shrugged. “I don’t fucking know,” he huffed. “That’s why I’m here talking to you. I figured if I get this out in the open and I hear another point of view, maybe it’ll be easier for me to make a decision.” 

Mibuchi nodded, licking grains of salt from his fingers. “As your teammate and friend, I can see that you’re obviously stressed out about this.” 

“Yes,” he quickly replied. 

“But as someone that’s seen the way you look at him and the way he looks at you, the two of you deserve a happy ending at some point.”  
   
Kagami’s eyebrows knit together before one quirked upward. “So, what does that mean?” 

“It means that you shouldn’t give up on Aomine completely.” Mibuchi advised, leaning back in the booth. “I just think you two need some boundaries and rules. You guys are good friends already, so just get to know him better and when you feel like he’s old enough, go for it.” 

Kagami nodded, crumpling up his last burger wrapper. “But, it’s not that easy,” he said with a grimace, “Daiki is not gonna like that idea. He was basically about to cry and storm out when I said I couldn’t return his feelings. If I say I wanna be friends after making out with him in my bed, he’s gonna fall apart.” 

“Then, give him an ultimatum.” Mibuchi claimed. “If he really wants to be with you, then he’ll wait no matter what. If he can’t wait, maybe you guys can’t be friends at all.” 

“That’s kinda,” Kagami paused, thinking it over, “really fucked up.”

“It may be,” he said after a gulp of water, “but, like you said he’s young. And you have to teach him that he can’t just throw a temper tantrum and then you’ll kiss him and everything will be solved.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get that,” Kagami said, feeling dejected. He could already picture the impending train wreck that confronting Daiki was going to be. The thought made him anxious, and suddenly wondering if it was possible that all of this could go away if he just ignored it. 

“Do you really get it Tai-chan? I know you have feelings for the kid, but you can’t let that cloud your judgment.” 

“My judgment isn’t clouded.” Kagami objected, a frown adorning his lips. “It’s just not as clear as I would want it to be.” 

Mibuchi sighed. “Do yourself a favor and think of a plan. You can’t confront Aomine-kun on the spot or you’ll have the same ending as last time.” 

“I know, I know! I got this. I have no choice.” Kagami finished, looking out the dirty Maji Burger window at the people passing by. The memory of his terse heated exchange with Daiki suddenly replaying in his mind. 

“That’s what you say Tai-chan, but we’ll see what you decide.” Mibuchi said, uncapping his water bottle. “But you know, for our next date we can go to that–” 

Kagami’s right eye twitched. “This isn’t a date!”

 

* * *

 

It’s been two weeks since _The Incident_ and his (not) date with Mibuchi. After finally figuring out what he was going to say, Kagami reached out to Daiki and he was about to see him face to face.  
   
This was the longest amount of time they haven’t seen each other or talked in person, and it wasn’t due to Kagami’s swallowing guilt that brought on weeks of avoidance, but rather school taking its toll. Final exams before they were to cross over to their next years were weeks away, which meant crunch time in the classroom and forced study groups by their basketball teammates.  
   
Of course, Kagami and Daiki exchanged text messages in between and even talked about attempts on they how could meet after being apart for so long. It brought a sense of normalcy since neither of them mentioned what occurred weeks before. Luckily for Kagami, their schedules were impossible to break away from, so he was able to further think about the ultimatum he was going to give Daiki. Kagami didn’t necessarily want to give Daiki that kind of choice, but Mibuchi was right about Daiki’s temper tantrum throwing ways. If he wanted to be stern about their situation, there had to be a choice made, whether Daiki wanted to or not.  
   
However, the weeks went by in such a surprising blur to Kagami that he wasn’t sure how he was going to actually bring up the ultimatum with Daiki only minutes away from arriving at his place. Several starting sentences popped up into his head, but things never went his way so he expected things to get ugly in every scenario possible.  
   
Sure, he talked the situation over with Mibuchi, but physically having to look into Daiki’s disappointed blue eyes and face scrunched up in frustration was going to be much harder than just talking it over in his head. So much so that it was making Kagami nervous and fidgety in the living room as he waited for the doorbell to ring.    
   
Kagami sighed, opting to get himself a drink from the fridge in an attempt to calm down. After he grabbed a can of whatever was closest, he resumed back to the living room where the television was on and Daiki was already spread out on the couch. The sight was so familiar yet it startled him.  
   
“Who said you could just walk right in?” Kagami demanded, his heart quickly beating in his chest from the small scare.  
   
Daiki rose from the couch and took the drink out of Kagami’s hand with a teasing smile. “I did. Plus, I’ve done it before, why would it bother you now?” he asked after a sip.  
   
Kagami narrowed his eyes at his annoyingly right claim and took his drink back. “I could still use a little warning before you just turn on the television and lounge around like you live here or something.”  
   
Daiki shrugged, his smile still on his face as he sat back down on the couch. He quickly changed the channel, an American basketball game suddenly on the television screen. “Can you believe how the Cavs crushed the Wizards the other night? That three-pointer that took them to overtime was insane.” He said, his eyes brightening at the memory. 

Kagami sat down next to Daiki, internally groaning at the fact Daiki was acting like nothing happened between the two of them. “I missed that game since I had a practice match, and then I had to study, but I heard about it.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the highlights online by now,” Daiki said, looking at Kagami taking another sip of his drink. 

“Well, yeah, but watching the whole thing is different.” Kagami said against the rim of his can. “How’s school been?” 

Daiki made a face at the change in topic, deciding to fold his arms. “Fine, I guess. I’m just ready to be a third year already. I’m sick of all these study sessions and shit.” 

“That stuff follows you into high school too you know.” Kagami reminded. 

“Yeah, yeah. But at least you have better basketball competition in high school. Our team is wiping the floor with everyone, so now it’s getting kind of boring again.” 

Kagami gave him a questioning look as he put his can down on the living room table. “Basketball is only boring if you let it get boring. Competition isn’t everything.”

Daiki scoffed, picking up Kagami’s can and bringing it to his lips. “Yeah, but who wants to try their hardest against someone that’s just gonna give up?” 

“Daiki, we talked about this when we first met. You’ll be out of middle school playing tougher guys before you know it.” Kagami asserted with a frown, watching as Daiki chugged the rest of his drink. “Plus, you still have me to go up against.” 

“Do I?” Daiki asked, tearing his eyes away from the television screen to look at Kagami. “We haven’t played in weeks.” 

A spike of anxiety rose in his chest, Kagami meeting Daiki’s eyes with uncertainty about what he wanted to say next. “You know why we haven’t played, other than our busy schedules.” 

Daiki shrugged. “What happened a couple weeks ago was no big deal.” 

Kagami digested his words while giving him an incredulous look. “No big deal? Daiki, I don’t get why you’re acting so indifferent about what happened. You were the one who was about to storm out of my room all angry after I turned you down.” 

“And you were the one that kissed me before I had a chance to.” Daiki shot back, his eyes leaving Kagami’s face to look at the television. 

Kagami pursed his lips, admitting that Daiki was right. “Look, I know that I’m in the wrong here, but we just can’t pretend like it didn’t happen. That’s not how life works.” 

“Since we can’t pretend like it didn’t happen and we can’t take anything back, what do you suggest we do?” 

Kagami sighed, the ultimatum that was planned out before suddenly jumbling up in his head. “I have a question first,” he mumbled, uneasy about his next words. “Do you still like me?” 

Daiki lightly scoffed, a small chuckle followed. “Unfortunately, yes I do.” He said, turning his head to look at Kagami. “How could I stop?” 

Kagami thickly swallowed, feeling a sense of relief yet uneasy at what was to come. He broke eye contact with Daiki, looking at his hands in his lap. “You know I like you too, right?” 

Daiki’s features morphed from disinterest to slight shock, hearing what he already knew out loud after the kiss making the situation much more real. “Yeah,” 

“But I meant what I said two weeks ago,” Kagami started, “I can’t be with you the way you want me to, so I need you to choose between two options.” 

“Choose?” Daiki repeated, looking bewildered. “Did our relationship suddenly turn into a board game?” 

“No,” Kagami assured, feeling unsettled by Daiki’s change in attitude, “it’s just that I don’t want us to go with the flow and suddenly we’re back here again. Our friendship fucked up, us not talking, and our feelings for each other getting in the way of the fun we have together.” 

Daiki nodded, unfortunately agreeing with Kagami’s every word. He shifted on the couch, turning sideways so that his back pressed up against the arm of the chair. “So, what are the choices?” 

“The first choice would be us taking it slow and getting to know each other better. So, maybe later in the future if we’re both still interested, we can get together.” 

Daiki nodded again, taking in Kagami’s words and already scrutinizing them in his head. 

Kagami took Daiki’s silence as an invitation to move on. “And the second choice would be that we take a break from each other.” He said, noticing the way Daiki’s eyebrows drew together at the mention. “Maybe we rushed things and spent so much time together that our feeling got the better of us and a break could help.” 

“Are you kidding Taiga? Both of those choices are ridiculous and you know it.” Daiki answered, his scowl only deepening. “Taking a break from each other means a crush is just gonna go away?”

Kagami sucked his teeth, turning his body to face Daiki. “I’m not saying feelings are gonna go away, I’m saying that maybe they’ll die down so that we can be friends.” 

“Be friends? We’re friends now Taiga,” Daiki reminded, “and the first choice is equally as ridiculous. Take it slow and get to know each other better? What does that even mean?”

“It means what it means. We don’t completely know each other. I’ve only known you for half a year, and as much as that might be enough for some people to date, that’s not good enough for me.” Kagami informed him, trying to keep himself calm at the obviously escalating situation. “Not to mention, you’re fourteen Daiki.” 

“So what? The legal age of consent in Japan is thirteen.” Daiki countered, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Plus, I think I know you well enough.”

Kagami pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand, this conversation obviously imploding on itself. “I was basically raised in California where the legal age of consent is eighteen, there’s a big difference. Not to mention, you can always learn more about somebody.”

“What else do I need to know about you? I know your birthday, your favorite foods, your–” 

“Do you know who my best friend is?” Kagami interjected, “That’s pretty important to know considering I’ve known him for a good portion of my life and he helped me get into basketball.”

Daiki flinched at Kagami swiftly being able to prove his point, but he remained smug as he refolded his arms. “No, but I could learn about–”

“Do you know who my first kiss was?” Kagami asked, cutting him off again to further his argument. “Because it sure as hell wasn’t you.” 

Daiki felt self-confidence drain from his body, suddenly feeling like the inexperienced fourteen-year-old Kagami was trying to prove he was. “No. I don’t know.” 

Kagami saw that his words were taking effect, Daiki withdrawing and looking more despondent by the second. “This just isn’t about you knowing me, but I don’t know you as well either.” He said, softening his tone. “So, you have a crush on me. Are you bisexual or what?” 

“I’m–,” Daiki immediately balked, unsure of how to answer, “I don’t know. I just know that I like you. Why does that even matter?” 

“I’m not trying to get you to label your sexuality or anything. I know that’s a journey you have to take yourself,” he explained, “but, I’m a physical person and at some point, I’d want to have sex. Would you be up to that?” 

Daiki didn’t feel like answering, opting to look at the television. “I don’t know,” he said after a minute, thinking about the words he wanted to say next. “Are you not a virgin?” 

“How would you feel if I wasn’t?” Kagami countered, watching for Daiki’s reaction. 

He shrugged, instantly wishing he could disappear so that this conversation could be over and he could feel dejected somewhere else. “I dunno, a little upset and inexperienced I guess.” 

“Well, I’m a virgin, so you don’t have to feel that way.” Kagami admitted, noticing how Daiki looked evidently calmer after his confession. “But, I said everything I said to prove a point here. We’re in two different places right now since I’m three years older than you.” 

“The age gap isn’t gonna go away though Taiga,” Daiki reminded, looking back at the television to see an unnecessarily gendered drink commercial. “We’re always gonna be in two different places in life, so how is a break from our friendship or getting to know each other better gonna change anything?”

“Because maybe we can grow from the situation,” Kagami said, digesting his own words and its uncertainty, “I mean we’ll get older together and there’ll be a time where our places in life just might meet up.” 

Daiki scoffed, watching the basketball game resume after a player’s poor attempt at free throws. “What, like the NBA?”

Kagami looked over at the television, watching as the Chicago Bulls pulled ahead by fifteen points after a crazy three-pointer. “Yeah, you never know. So,” He swallowed, feeling their conversation coming to an obvious close, “what do you choose?” 

Daiki remained silent for over a minute, impassively watching the basketball game while he felt Kagami’s stare. After the game went to commercial, he sighed and shifted in his seat on the couch. “I want a break from you,” he decided, “I know I’m just an immature fourteen-year-old kid that you made out with two weeks ago because you got caught up in your feelings.” 

“And?” Kagami questioned, waiting for the rest of his verdict. 

“But,” Daiki continued, “I really fucking like you, a lot. And the idea of just being friends is gonna be impossible for me. I never felt this way before about anybody since I’m so young, so I think I wanna give my emotions a break and stay away from you until I say otherwise.” 

Kagami suddenly felt hurt, wishing that things didn’t have to end this way. Yet, he nodded anyway, knowing that this was the best choice for the both of them. “Okay. I get it. And, you’re still welcome here since you’re Kuroko’s closest friend. I don’t wanna get in the way of that.” He said, his words tasting as sour as the mood felt.

Daiki nodded his head, giving Kagami one more look of longing before he stood up. He stretched his arms over his head with a yawn, completely tired and over the situation. “Well, see you around I guess.” He mumbled, giving Kagami an insincere smile and a playful punch to the arm. 

Before Daiki could walk past him, Kagami grabbed his hand to stop him in his tracks. He took satisfaction in holding Daiki’s hand, warm and a lot softer than his own hand that had three more years of roughness from playing basketball. “If you ever need anything I’m here,” Kagami finally said, dropping Daiki’s hand, “just because we’re taking a break from each other doesn’t mean I won’t be there for you when you need it.”

“Thanks,” Daiki said, meeting Kagami’s eyes one last time, “see you whenever.” 

From the couch Kagami watched Daiki walk towards the front door, slip his shoes back on, and not look back as he opened and shut the door. Kagami sighed after a minute, feeling a rush of relief that their discussion didn’t end as bad as he thought it would. It was good to see Daiki mature before his eyes, but the way it had to be done was hurtful. He was whole heartedly responsible, and he knew that he was going to feel guilty for the whole time they were apart. 

He wasn’t even sure how well that was going to work out. The two of them were practically glued together since he met Daiki months ago. Plus, to agree to stay away from each other was one thing, but to actually do it was another. The idea made him feel empty after already noticing what Daiki’s absence did to him for two weeks. 

It was at halftime of the basketball game did Kagami fully realize that he just lost one of his closest friends in Japan, which just happened to be his crush. And he was unsure, how he as the mature, somewhat emotionally grounded one was going to handle it for weeks to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all. it's been a long time. i had to stop writing because of school, but i graduated university! so hopefully i can write more often. 
> 
> i haven't given up on this story at all, so bear with me as i try to finish it. 
> 
> thanks for reading! ♥︎
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated. ✌


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine comes to some realizations about himself and how he feels about Taiga.

It was official. Aomine Daiki was a third-year. It wasn’t that much different from being a second-year. A little more homework, a little more responsibility, and a little more pressure to be a better student before he entered high school. Basketball at school also wasn’t that much different. Every time, when he thought he had competition and potential rivalry for the Teikō team, the opponent either gave up or was too weak against them. Aomine tried to ignore it from time to time. He’s been trying to bask in the fact that he could relax on the bench more and not overextend himself. Yet, all the disregarding in the world couldn’t take away the zealous itch he had to play with people on his level. 

The itch didn't really show up till after he and Taiga’s break had truly started. Taiga was really his only true source of entertainment on the basketball court. Going from not knowing whether he was going to win or lose to literally winning all the time by a large margin again was monotonous. It caused that previous tolerable itch to turn into a rash, spreading into all aspects of his life once more. Everything became irritating and lost its appeal. He could barely endure basketball practice, hanging out with Satsuki and Tetsu, and even looking at Mai-chan became tedious on occasion. Aomine hadn’t realized that taking a break from Taiga was going to change just about everything in his day to day life. 

It had only been two months, but it felt like two years to Aomine. Sudden zero contact with someone he spent so much time with for half a year that caused his world to spin three hundred sixty degrees was an eye-opener. He was abruptly isolated. Literally and figuratively. He spent a lot of time by himself again, mostly barricaded in his room with junk food and he took a lot of unnecessary naps. The places where he felt the most comfortable such as Maji Burger, the street basketball court, and Tetsu’s house were all intolerable. Not only did those places hold special memories of him and Taiga, but he was afraid of running into him the most. The idea of that sudden meeting made him perturbed. 

Aomine Daiki wasn’t an anxious person, but he became one after the day he decided his and Taiga’s fate as a couple. He wasn’t necessarily afraid of Taiga. How could he be? He was practically in love with the guy. What Aomine was afraid of was himself. And what he would personally do if he saw Taiga in person again after their proposed time apart. After months of this supposed break, he felt exactly the same. Head over heels lovestruck by cupid’s bow dead center in that previously dormant heart of his. He had the feeling if he looked in the mirror while thinking about Taiga, he’d probably have little pink hearts as irises. 

It was all a little too much for him, emotionally speaking. Aomine never had a crush on anyone before Taiga. All he really felt throughout his life so far were emotions featured on the happy, sad, and mad spectrum, and his puberty induced occasional favorite, horny. This swift overwhelming takeover of his thoughts and emotions all about one person was jarring. He didn’t know his mind could go from food, Mai-chan, basketball, boobs, and more basketball to all of the above except with twenty thoughts of Taiga inserted in between every subject. 

He missed Taiga much more than he expected. Aomine couldn’t remember the number of times he held his cell phone in his hand, looking at Taiga’s contact information, and having an internal struggle with calling or texting him. His actions and emotions during this terrible moment in his life, otherwise known as having feelings for someone, downright embarrassed himself. He even web searched things along the lines of how to get rid of his emotions and read ridiculous articles of how to plan his funeral now that he had a crush on someone. 

After deciding that picking his own flower arrangement and what color casket he would like to be buried in would be too much work, he went back to browsing sneakers on the internet and wallowing in his own self-pity. 

Given all that, he had other things to worry about, such as summer break basketball training camp. Aomine was so caught up in his emotional tween life crisis that he nearly forgot all about it. He thought about not going after getting used to sitting in his room for hours and days on end detached from the world. Unfortunately, Akashi pretty much told him he was going and Satsuki told his mom about the trip, so he couldn’t lie about having anything to do.

Aomine wasn’t really pretentious about his skills, but he knew he was the most talented one on the team. Everyone else on the team was gifted, but still growing into their capabilities and trying to work together. The nickname The Generation of Miracles was going around again like a seasonal virus now that they were all third years. Junior high and basketball news outlets already ready for them to dominate their final season together. 

He personally couldn’t care less about this basketball season and being a third year, just like everything else at this point. As pathetic and cliché teenage rom-com as it sounded, how could anything matter when he couldn’t have Taiga in his life like he wanted? He kept replaying their last interactions together in his head like a 90’s kid with their favorite VHS tape.

Aomine could still feel Taiga’s warm lips against his, the soft press of his tongue against his own, and Taiga’s calloused hand resting on his naked hip. He appreciated the way time seemed to move languidly just for the both of them to enjoy each other. Like the universe knew it was going to be one of their last enjoyable moments together before he and Taiga’s separation. That memory was a dream compared to the nightmare of himself walking home after he decided the fate of he and Taiga’s relationship. 

He felt sick the whole way home, an anxiety-induced lump formed in his throat that stayed put no matter how many times he swallowed. Aomine had the satisfaction in knowing that Taiga did indeed have feelings for him, yet berated him like a kid to prove his point. All he could think about as his feet carried him along the sidewalk was that he had no chance with Taiga because he really was a kid. Sure, his fifteenth birthday was in the coming months, but that was nowhere near adulthood or remotely close to being on Taiga’s level. 

Throughout his personal isolation, his mind swirled with topics from his and Taiga’s final conversation. He thought about his sexuality, wondering if he was bisexual or if Taiga was really his special case of attraction due to their similarities and common interests. From there his mind jumped to sex, thinking about acting out the mechanics with Taiga after literally getting a taste by making out with him. Aomine admittedly pictured it a little too well and got himself flustered and turned on. He unabashedly touched himself to completion before the most prominent thought planted a stake in his mind. 

He wasn’t Taiga’s first kiss. 

It wasn’t really a shock considering that Taiga was three years older than him, which meant three more years of human interaction and experience. Nevertheless, it nagged at him for weeks. It kept him up at night like crumbs in his sheets, digging into his skin while he rolled around seeking another part of his bed for comfort. Aomine wanted to ask Taiga about it, among other things but he knew better. Once he breached the mental contract made by himself, for himself, and signed by himself, he’d regret it for as long as he lived. 

He promised himself he wouldn’t initiate any type of contact with Taiga for as long as possible. His two ~~years~~ months were only the beginning, but he was sure he could hold out even longer. He wasn’t Aomine Daiki for nothing.

  


* * *

  


Five minutes into summer training camp and Aomine realized he should’ve stayed home. 

Which was unfortunate since he hyped himself up a couple weeks prior to camp. After a whole ninety days, three hours, thirty-one minutes, and forty-five seconds without any contact with Taiga (but, ya know, who’s counting?), he decided he wanted to be happy again. The predictable day to day schedule of eating leftovers, Maji Burger (from a further location), and junk food after laying in his bed avoiding homework, watching basketball highlights, and masturbating to the point where he didn’t find it satisfying anymore became too repetitious and downright wearisome for his liking. So, to initiate his path to jubilation, he thought his number one hobby would be the cure, basketball. 

The idea of going to the street court still made him antsy, so he waited till summer training camp. He was ready to reconnect with Tetsu on and off the court, possibly try some new moves he studied from watching a whole bunch of American basketball highlights and try to be as remotely positive as Aomine Daiki could be. But then, after a two-hour mostly silent bus ride with his teammates and concluding who was rooming with who at the inn, he was suddenly reminded of how much he enjoyed spending time without his teammates these days. 

Aomine didn’t hate any of them. They were The Generation of Miracles. They’d won the junior high Nationals title for the last two years in a row and will win it again this year. They were his friends. But everyone was changing. The humdrum attitude Aomine himself entered when he first started getting stultified with the idea of basketball was spreading to all of them except Tetsu. It was bound to happen really. Teikō was such a dominating force in the junior high basketball world and they were all getting so skilled so swiftly that Aomine knew that his attitude would infect them like the plague. Unfortunately, losing their head coach and getting a new one was just the catalyst. 

So, after a couple minutes of hearing his teammates talk about summer training camp like a chore, and a couple more minutes of denigrating who Teikō was going to play in the coming weeks after school resumed, Aomine wanted to go home. He wanted to have positive basketball vibes. He even wanted to do that crazy thing that the young people were doing these days, _have fun_. And so far, that seemed damn near impossible with his dissenting and haughty teammates. 

Well, all of them except Tetsu. Aomine wasn’t sure if it was the universe or simply some type of dark magic, but Tetsu managed to avoid the contagion of cockiness and merciless behavior that came with being a teenage boy in a society that metaphorically stroked his dick for being adroit in just about anything. It was actually pretty gratifying to be able to rely on someone that was consistent in a friendship. That made Aomine feel even worse about avoiding him for the last three months. 

At first, he tried to play it off like he needed space to concentrate on his final exams, but Tetsu being Tetsu quickly caught on that Aomine was to be avoided after Aomine blew off a couple of meetups, got caught in lies about how busy he was, and even lied about being sick. It was mortifyingly juvenile, but so was Aomine on the occasion. It wasn’t Tetsu’s fault that Aomine couldn’t be near Tetsu without associating him with Taiga. That was Tetsu’s stepbrother, his family, the person he lived with. There was no way he could hang out with Tetsu without the topic of Taiga popping up at least once a week. Just the thought of Taiga sometimes threw Aomine in a crush-filled tizzy, so hanging out was seriously out of the question. 

But, Aomine had gotten over it. At least he hoped and thought he had gotten over it. So, after sitting next to each other on the bus and Aomine apologizing about his absence after distancing himself from Taiga, Tetsu forgave him. Or more like Tetsu completely understood his situation and was waiting for Aomine to make his way back into socializing with him. It was expected of old reliable Tetsu. Even if the rest of his teammates had an insufferable attitude, at least he could have a good time with Tetsu. 

At least that’s what Aomine thought until twenty minutes passed into the summer training camp. 

Aomine had been settling his stuff into his and Tetsu’s room, changing his clothes so he could jump immediately into shooting practice and drills when Tetsu came into the room looking worried. Which Aomine knew was unsettling in itself since Tetsu barely changed facial expressions. 

“What’s up Tetsu? Is something going on?” Aomine asked, pulling his shoe strings a little too tight, but deciding to knot it anyway. 

Kuroko closed the door behind him, shaking his head in a negatory manner. “No. Well, it may not be good news for you Aomine-kun.” 

Aomine gave him an intrigued look, his eyes narrowing at Tetsu’s words. “We’ve only been here for less than half an hour and you’re saying there’s bad news for me. What could’ve possibly happened?” 

Tetsu shifted on his feet in slight nervousness, unsure of how he wanted to go about telling Aomine how this training camp was going to change for the next four days. “It’s about Kagami-kun.” 

Aomine immediately froze up, feelings of panic and disquietude running through him. “What happened?” he quickly implored, but then stopped himself, feeling his emotions trample all over themselves. “Wait, never mind, don’t tell me anything about him. I’m here for summer training camp, not to think about what sent me into a depressive spiral over the last couple of months.” 

Aomine grabbed his water bottle and towel, striding past Kuroko. Yet, Kuroko managed to cut Aomine off before he got to exit the room, pressing his back against the door. “No Aomine-kun, you have to listen to this.” 

“Nope,” Aomine deadpanned, grabbing Kuroko by the triceps so he could easily lift him off the ground and set him down a couple inches off to the side so he could open the door. “I refuse to talk about—”

Taiga would’ve been Aomine’s next word if it weren’t for the fact that he saw him at the end of the hallway after opening the door. A couple of his teammates surrounding him, an arm around his shoulder, with playful banter and laughter exchanged among them. Aomine felt paralyzed. His Jordan’s felt as heavy as concrete blocks with lead chains wrapped around them as his vision honed in on Taiga. He was just as attractive as he remembered. Tall, tan, and a smile that would rival the sun’s ability to make the world a warmer place. 

It was Taiga. And all Aomine wanted to do in that particular moment is die. In fact, he was pretty sure he probably should’ve picked his casket and flower arrangement, because this was the moment he passed into the afterlife. At least he thought so until Tetsu pulled him back into the room and shut the door behind him. 

Aomine wasn’t sure about what shocked him more, Tetsu’s sudden inhuman strength for someone of his stature or the fact that the moment that just occurred was really only a few seconds and not the several minutes it felt like. As the bombshell known as Kagami Taiga infiltrated his mind for the hundredth time in three months, Aomine sat at the desk chair in the room, still trying to process the information. 

Aomine made sure he sat down his stuff before he spoke. “Tetsu, what the fuck?”

“I was trying to warn you Aomine-kun,” Kuroko chided, “Kagami-kun’s team is also here for summer training camp. It appears that Senshinkan’s previous inn was incorrectly booked so they had to come here for the weekend. Kagami-kun just told me when they were five minutes away, but I couldn’t get to you in enough time to tell you.” 

Aomine looked at Kuroko, digesting his words while anxiously bouncing his leg. “Are they gonna be here the whole time we’re here?” 

“Yes.” 

“Shit,” Aomine said under his breath, leaning forward so that he could rest his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know if I can stay here Tetsu.” 

Kuroko gave Aomine an incredulous look, deciding to sit in the chair adjacent from him. “Aomine-kun, it’s just for a couple of days. I’m sure you can—”

“No, Tetsu,” he interrupted, “You don’t get the way your stepbrother makes me feel. These last three months without contact with him was terrible and to know he’s down the hall and have to interact with him is gonna eat at me.” Aomine asserted, the previous image of Taiga from moments ago burned into his corneas and showing no signs of fading. 

Kuroko nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry Aomine-kun. I was unaware of how serious your feelings for Kagami-kun are, but you really don’t have a choice but to stay here for the next four days.” 

Aomine thickly swallowed, knowing that Kuroko was right. What excuse did he really have to leave the summer training camp after just arriving? Sure, he could feign illness and even lie about a family emergency, but this situation wasn’t that serious and he knew that. “Well, do you know the training schedule for Taiga’s team? I want to avoid him as much as humanly possible.” 

“No, Aomine-kun, I don’t know. But, I do know this amount of avoidance is unhealthy,” Kuroko suggested. “I know you’re not one for crushes Aomine-kun and you and Kagami-kun had an agreement about a break, but you were bound to see each other again someday.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it Tetsu,” Aomine replied with the flippant gesture of his hand, “but I just don’t feel ready. Everything happened so fast between us. It’s like, one second he was my best friend, then my crush, and then he’s suddenly scratched out of my life like an old scab. It’s awkward.” 

“Life is awkward Aomine-kun,” Kuroko said with a shrug. “You and Kagami-kun should use this meeting to your benefit. Everything happens for a reason.” 

Aomine rolled his eyes, leaning back in the chair with his arms folded, trying to put his figurative walls back up to the world after one look at Taiga knocked them down. “Thanks for your philosophy Tetsu, but I’m still going to avoid being near him as much as possible.” 

“Do whatever you must Aomine-kun, but we’ll be here just as long as Kagami-kun is,” Kuroko said, getting up and heading for the room door. “And I overheard Momoi-san, she was thinking about having a joint practice and practice matches with Senshinkan, so it’d be best if you overcame your apprehensive feelings about being around Kagami-kun.” 

Aomine rolled eyes again, suddenly wishing he could roll his eyes in the back of his head. Maybe they’d assume he was possessed by a demon and he needed an exorcist. That’s a good way of avoiding your crush, right? He pushed the thought aside and frowned at Kuroko. “I’ll try, but don’t expect too much out of me.” 

“That’ll be easy Aomine-kun. I never expect much out of you, let alone too much.” 

Aomine’s disgruntled face followed after the insult, but before he could reply Kuroko was out the door and closed it behind him. “Fucking Tetsu,” he mumbled to himself. 

He sat there for a couple of minutes, trying to plot how he was going to maneuver around the inn while Taiga was there. After entertaining the idea that turning invisible would be his best course of action, his phone vibrated, a text coming through. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was Kuroko and not Taiga trying to talk to him. 

> ** Tetsu ** : Kagami-kun and his team are running on the beach and doing drills in another gym nearby for the next couple of hours, so you’re safe to come out. 

> ** Aomine ** : thanks tetsu. inform me of taiga’s status the whole trip?

> ** Tetsu ** : Get a grip Aomine-kun. 

Aomine scrunched up his face in annoyance. “Fucking Tetsu,” he repeated, standing up to gather his things. 

He gripped the doorknob, feeling the cold metal in his hand with a deep sigh. Taiga was out there somewhere. And there was a large probability that he was going to see Taiga, and Taiga was going to see him this time. He could do this. He was Aomine fucking Daiki and nothing could stop him. 

He took that feeling of invincibility with him as he strolled out the door and headed to the basketball court.

  


* * *

  


It turned out the feeling of invincibility wasn’t shit. 

Aomine arguably felt indomitable for a while, surrounded by his teammates in the gym while he was in his element with a basketball in his hands. It felt so good to be on the court and have the ball in his hand that time slipped away from him. He knew Taiga and his team were supposed to be gone a couple of hours, but there was no way Aomine would spend that much time on the court without noticing the time, right? 

Wrong. 

Aomine was enthralled in a three-point contest with Midorima, with both of them making sixteen three-pointers in a row without missing a shot. He was watching Midorima’s sixteenth shot sink into the basketball hoop when the Senshinkan team began to walk through the gym. The moment Aomine saw two-tone red hair, he wanted to bolt. He wanted to literally run away from his problem and do that for as long as he had to. People said running away from your problems was a bad thing, but he saw absolutely nothing wrong with the idea. 

In the midst of still planning his escape, Midorima had retrieved the ball and passed it to him, reminding him it was his turn and that what they were doing was starting to get boring. Especially with Cancer being in first place and Virgo being fourth. Aomine sneered at him, deciding that he wanted to do what he did best when he was a little insecure and on edge, show off in basketball. Plus, they had an audience, so why the fuck not?

Aomine immediately put on a pompous attitude and a smirk, stepping a couple feet back from the three-point line. It was no surprise when it sank in with a satisfying swish of the basketball net. Midorima picked up on Aomine’s new game without saying a word and he made the same exact shot, the ball going through the hoop just as perfect as Aomine’s did. With an adjustment of Midorima’s glasses and a smug look of his own, he looked to Aomine to continue. 

And he did just that, the two of them taking shots one after the other while they changed distances. They even went as far as tossing the ball to each other when they were mid-jump shot to increase the difficulty, yet they never missed. Throughout their athletic display of talent, Aomine never looked over to the Senshinkan basketball team who decided to sit on the gym bleachers to watch the display, but he could feel Taiga’s eyes on him the whole time. And he liked it, a lot. 

It surprised Aomine. From previously being stopped in his tracks by the sight of Taiga to putting on a show with his teammate with him a few feet away in a matter of hours was a triumph. Maybe this whole break from each other thing did work. 

Spoiler alert, it didn’t work. 

After Aomine and Midorima took their final three-point shots from the half-court mark, which they both made and drew applause and cheers from the Senshinkan team and a couple of the Teikō bench players who watched the whole contest. Aomine without thought put his arm around Midorima, walking with him over to where their water bottles and towels were sitting on the bench. The two of them sat on the floor together, chugging water, Aomine satisfied with getting Midorima to enjoy basketball for the moment, while Midorima rambled about zodiac signs and Aomine’s poor cleaning habits in the locker room. 

When Aomine was in the middle giving Midorima an earful about that time Midorima dragged Aomine from Kuroko by trapping him in a ball bag so he could clean his locker, Taiga showed up in front of him. It freaked Aomine out considering he was animatedly telling Midorima how to use people skills and how ball bags are for balls when he heard a familiar voice say his name. 

It was Taiga of course, astonishingly looking sheepish about approaching him. “Can we talk later?” 

Aomine’s brain was still trying to catch up with the fact that Taiga was no longer a few feet away from him like before, but a couple inches. He balked at first before nodding. “Sure. What time and where?” He replied, trying not to sound too eager. 

“After dinner at the basketball hoop near the parking lot.” 

Aomine nodded again, taking a mental Polaroid picture of how good Taiga looked. He blamed his hormones. Especially, when he kept tunnel visioning on Taiga’s lips. “I’ll be there.” 

After Aomine and Taiga exchanged goodbyes, Aomine reached for his water bottle wanting to physically and metaphorically drown himself before he drowned in the emotions that were bubbling to the surface again due to contact with Taiga after so long. Following Aomine’s downing of approximately half a liter of water, he set his bottle down with a deep exhale. 

Midorima gave Aomine a knowing look, a smug look on his face. “Thirsty?” 

Aomine understood what he was truly alluding to, and it wasn’t water. “Shut up.” 

But he was thirsty, oh so fucking thirsty for Taiga. He hadn’t realized the severity of it till later on at dinner, where all he could think about was Taiga. Sure, they were only separated for three months, but three months away from a boy made all the difference. Taiga was evidently still growing and his body changing. He looked probably a half an inch taller, his jawline more angular and defined, the muscles in his arms bulging much more than before, and to top it all off, he cut his hair. Taiga was hot. Disgustingly, insufferably, and terribly hot. 

Aomine always knew that. Taiga being hot was a fact. If he opened a dictionary to the word hot, Taiga would probably be in the alternate definitions category. His looks were that lethal. If his new looks weren’t deadly to an extent, they were downright distracting. Aomine came to that conclusion later after arriving at the basketball court that night. Taiga was already waiting there for him, dribbling a basketball between his legs to keep himself busy. 

The moment Taiga made eye contact with Aomine, he passed Aomine the ball. Aomine gave him a questioning look, wondering if what was about to happen was really going to happen after so long. Taiga nodded, getting into a defensive stance while he awaited Aomine’s next move. 

It was their beloved one-on-one match. 

The spark that lit their relationship on fire before they truly knew each other.

It was everything Aomine wanted and more. The matchup was fast-paced, rough, full of trash talk, haughty smirks, and snobbish laughter. It was the type of action on the court he had been dying for. Aomine’s competitive itch was officially scratched and he couldn’t have been more satisfied. But the universe liked to surprise him, so Aomine became even more fulfilled when he and Taiga decided to cool down on a nearby bench that faced the beach. They shared a water bottle and a Pocari Sweat while they watched the waves crash in from a distance, the moon illuminating the water, their body heat intermingling as their thighs brushed up against each other. The quiet blanketed around them, all that could be heard were the waves and a gentle breeze. Silence between the two of them was foreign really, but in this moment, it felt right. 

This was literally the most content Aomine felt after losing a one-on-one match to Taiga. Aomine blamed Taiga’s unlawful good looks for his loss, but it was a hundred percent worth it for a future memory like this. Yet, Aomine knew this faultless moment couldn’t and wouldn’t last forever, so he decided to end it himself before the universe did it for him like it usually did. 

“Why’d you wanna meet?” Aomine asked after finishing off the sports drink. “I know you just didn’t want a one-on-one match.” 

“I didn’t want this summer training camp weekend to be awkward. You know, with our break and all,” Taiga replied, tearing his eyes off the ocean to look at Aomine. 

He looked back into Taiga’s eyes, feeling his heart rate pick up like a crescendo. “So, pulling off the proverbial Band-Aid?” 

“Yes,” Taiga surmised, “but, I really did want to play you. Seeing you shoot against that green-haired kid made me miss what we used to do on the court.” He admitted before bringing the water bottle to his lips. 

Aomine smiled, knocking their knees together to nudge Taiga. “You were jealous.” 

“Shut up.”

Aomine let out a soft chuckle at Taiga’s behavior. “You can’t even acknowledge it,” he further teased, “but you have nothing to worry about. Midorima’s just one of the best three-point shooters on our team and I wanted a challenge outside my norm. He can’t live up to what we do on the court together.” 

Taiga’s lips tugged into a small smile at Aomine’s words. “Good to know,” he began, shifting on the bench while he stretched his legs out. “How’ve you been though? It’s been three months since I last saw you. I thought I’d at least run into you at Maji, the streetball court, or my house.” 

“Time went by pretty fast,” Aomine lied, looking away from Taiga to turn his focus back to the ocean. “But, um, I’ve been busy with this transition to becoming a third-year. I’m trying to do better academically this year so I can get good high school basketball offers.” Sure, Aomine left out the self-isolation, possible depression, and becoming hyper-aware of his emotions, but he wasn’t a closed book for nothing. 

Taiga nodded in affirmation, trying to contain his reaction to Aomine growing up right before his eyes. “That’s good. You have an idea of where you want to go?” 

Aomine shrugged in uncertainty, folding his arms. “I have no idea. The school doesn’t necessarily have to be a big basketball school, but it’d be nice if it was. I’ll see when I get offers later on in my third year. How’s your team been?” 

“Good,” he answered, “they’re all a weird bunch but we work well together for the most part.” 

“That’s cool,” Aomine replied with a nod, feeling their conversation drift towards a cumbersome tone. He cleared his throat, trying to quell his building anxiety. “You look taller.”

“I grew half an inch apparently. I figured I’d stopped growing, but I guess not,” Taiga said in a nonchalant manner. “But what about you? You look like you grew a couple inches.” 

Aomine shrugged once more in unsureness. “I didn’t go to the third-year statistic check-in, but it wouldn’t surprise me.” 

Taiga gave Aomine a knowing and slightly disappointed look. “You’ve been skipping practice and everything too, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled in admittance, “but I think my basketball skills are still pretty good.” 

“Eh, your skills are alright,” Taiga quipped with a small smile. 

Aomine knew he was teasing, but he nudged Taiga again with his knee, relishing on the skin contact. “Whatever.” 

Taiga had bumped Aomine back, giving him a teasing smile. He then chewed on the corner of his lip, unsure of how to bring up what he wanted to say next. After a sigh and another shift in his seat, he gave Aomine a serious look. “Before we part ways in a bit and we have to see each other on and off during this trip, I just wanna know something. Are we good? I know that things are going to be awkward, but I just—” 

“I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you,” Aomine interrupted, meeting Taiga’s eyes for the first time in minutes. “I thought I’d let you know that our break from each didn’t really work on my part.” 

Taiga looked defeated and surprised, hesitant about what he wanted to say next. “Daiki, I—” 

“You don’t have to say anything, I just felt like saying it. It’s more of an admittance to myself,” Aomine asserted, shrugging to look apathetic, but his heart vigorously pumping blood in his rib cage told another story. “But yeah, we’re good.” 

Taiga frowned, not knowing how to feel or what to say. Collectively, this kid continued to amaze him. “Then, do you want to me stay away from you if your feelings are that strong?” 

Aomine shook his head in a negatory manner, still looking into Taiga’s eyes but this time with a sincere smile. “No,” he replied, surprising himself, “I actually missed you a lot. I think seeing you more often would make me feel less anxious about you.” 

“I make you anxious?” Taiga asked, slightly taken back. “Why?” 

Aomine let out a neurotic laugh before giving Taiga an incredulous look. “Are you kidding me? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re hot,” he elucidated, pausing to taste the words he just spoke before continuing. “Not to mention, I dunno, you’re just everything I wanted and more, and I’m kinda afraid of losing that.” Aomine finished while looking into Taiga’s eyes, unable to hide how smitten he was.

Taiga couldn’t help but look away, feeling smothered by all the sudden information. Sensing the weight of Aomine’s words and the heaviness of his gaze, the endearment, and overall direct affection was incredulous. It was undisputed at this point, Aomine was indubitably in love with him and he wasn’t sure how to feel. 

Aomine took Taiga’s silence as an answer in itself, confessions like that were easy to listen to but hard to digest. He recognized that himself through all the sequestered nights. In bed looking through the darkness to stare at the ceiling, the white noise of his room fan lulling him to sleep after the repetitious sleep-deprived nights of the same thoughts. But after facing his fear of coming into contact with the person he’s adored for so long, all those long nights and waves of anxiety rolling through him were worth it. 

At the moment, Aomine was unexpectedly at peace with his previous emotional turmoil and it felt good. 

It felt so good that Aomine decided to be the one to end their meeting, not wanting to end on a bad note if their conversation veered off into perilous territory. Aomine slowly stood up, stretching his arms over his shoulders to hear the satisfying pop and crack of his bones. 

“Damn, I’m getting old,” Aomine said after a terse yawn, swearing to himself that fourteen years old was the new fifty-five. “I’ll see you around. Have a good night.” 

Taiga abruptly stood up, catching Aomine’s shoulder before he began to walk away. “Wait, this is how you wanna end things? You don’t want an answer from me at all?” 

Aomine was caught off guard by the warmth of Taiga’s hand on him. Also, he noted both of them were indeed taller, Aomine a few inches away from being eye level to Taiga, which also meant lip level for kissing, but he’d keep that gem to himself. “Yeah, I’m sure. I think it’d be better for the both of us at this point. Don’t you think?” 

Taiga nodded, dropping his hand from Aomine’s shoulder. “Yeah, you’re right,” he concurred. He then thickly swallowed, putting his hands in his pockets. “After summer training camp is over and you feel comfortable in school, wanna start hanging out again?” 

“I’ll never feel comfortable in school,” he retorted, but he smiled nonetheless, “but yeah, for sure. I’ll beat you in one-on-one next time.” 

Taiga scoffed, quirking an eyebrow at the challenge. “We’ll see about that.” 

“We will,” Aomine surmised. He then gestured with his head towards the inn. “Wanna walk back together?” 

“No,” he answered with a shake of his head, “I wanna look at the ocean a little bit longer. I haven’t seen it really since being in California.” 

“Alright, see ya,” Aomine said, giving Taiga a parting wave. 

Taiga returned the gesture, giving Aomine a small smile. “See you around.” 

After their goodbyes, Aomine walked back to the inn oozing pure gratification and overall content. In fact, he was pretty sure there were puddles of satisfaction trailing behind him. 

Showering and getting ready for bed went by like a blur since he was too busy floating on cloud nine’s vast accumulations of white fluff. He laid down on his futon with a fulfilled sigh, staring at the ceiling with a smile momentarily before he drifted off into the deepest sleep he’s had in three months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the feedback on the last chapter! ♥︎
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated. ✌️


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